Christmas Day does not mean everything stops at Guild Care

Today, its services support more than 3,000 older people, those living with dementia and children and adults with learning disabilities.

Guild Care services do not stop for Christmas. Many thousands of people across the country they need care and support on December 25, just like any other day.

The local charity has a variety of services which run 365 days of the year, including home care, a transport service and Christmas lunch at its Bradbury Wellbeing Centre and three nursing homes.

The home care service promotes independence by helping people with many aspects of daily living, which will see the community care assistants visiting customers on Christmas Day as well.

Dona Lacey, home care manager, said: “The care and support our staff provide to people in their homes is vital to them remaining safe and independent and our customers will still need that care on Christmas Day.

“Our domiciliary staff may be the only person who visits someone on that day, so their visit could transform a lonely Christmas Day into one that was shared.”

Last year, Guild Care’s fleet of 12 minibuses travelled a total of 132,769 miles and carried out 1,600 journeys, providing a door-to-door service for more than 500 passengers each week.

Every Christmas Day, four minibuses, driven by volunteer drivers, collect customers to spend the day at the Bradbury Wellbeing Centre, which hosts a traditional family lunch for older people who would otherwise be alone.

Julie Hockley, Guild Care’s community transport manager, said: “Last Christmas Day we ensured every one of our customers were dropped off to enjoy the day and some of our volunteer drivers even stayed for the day, making it a real family occasion.”

At the charity, just because it is Christmas Day does not mean the work stops, which is the same for Guild Care’s three nursing homes, which all run as normal and host a range of Christmas fun to get residents in the festive spirit.

At Linfield House, in the morning, staff will give out a present to each and every resident and then they will all proceed to have a special lunch together, with some family members joining in the festivities.

Julie Greenhalf, registered manager of Linfield House, said: “Christmas Day for us is really just like any other day but lots more fun. We make sure that it feels as Christmassy as possible for everyone.”

For more information on Guild Care’s services, call 01903 327327, email [email protected] or visit www.guildcare.org