08 Nov STAFF AND PARTICIPANTS SUPPORT GIVE A FEW WORDS LETTER WRITING SCHEME

With the help of a local initiative called ‘Give…a few words’, the Huddersfield Town Foundation has been doing its best to help reduce loneliness and isolation.

‘Give’ is a Huddersfield-based scheme founded shortly after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, with the aim of connecting care home residents and charities who had been forced to isolate with people outside of their environment.

Since then the scheme has grown rapidly, enabling them to work with a number of care homes across the region.

Having seen the success of the scheme the Town Foundation decided to incorporate it into its week-long NCS programme, held in the week commencing 26 October at the home of Batley Bulldogs.

It’s 16 and 17-year-old participants each wrote a letter to a resident in need, with Give providing details on their interests and what they’d like to hear about.

The scheme is a fully inclusive one, with letter writers able compose a handwritten letter or type one on their computer/smart phone.

Participants are also able to get creative, whether that be by including drawings or attaching photographs.

As well as its NCS participants, Town Foundation staff members also wrote to residents with a particular interest in football.

On the Town Foundation’s involvement Sharron Wilkinson, founder of Give…a few words, commented:

“We are immensely grateful for the support of the Huddersfield Town Foundation with the letter writing scheme.

When we had residents in some care homes that were football fans, we put a call out for people to write about football and their staff jumped at the chance.

The idea of spreading kindness and words through letters and helping the Kirklees Community was something that they embraced. Their letters were brilliant, full of interesting facts, detail and stories which would cheer anyone up!”

Anybody wishing to write a letter of their own can register via their website, www.thegive.co.uk, and they will receive an email back with a person’s name and their interests.

Since its launch the Give Community has grown to include roughly 180 volunteers with 90 active letter writers, in the UK, Europe and even Australia!

For more information on the Town Foundation’s NCS project mentioned above, please click here.