by Kathryn Yates, Culture and Communities Manager
A massive thanks to everyone who has thought about how to make Everyone Everywhere a reality this year. We have reached out to different people, places and organisations to really try to live our MacIntyre purpose: people using their gifts, skills and passions to contribute and connect to people in their local neighbourhoods.
Contributing is the bit about “how can we help” and there have been some creative ideas where we have reached out and really connected with people who live and work nearby. Remember, the point of this is to “help” in a good way; that is to start by understanding what’s needed locally and use our gifts, skills and passions to support that. Not assume we know what someone needs. These are good questions to ask:
- How do we know something is needed?
- How does it link with what we are good at and care about?
- Do we need to lead on this ourselves or can we support something else that’s happening?
- What is the impact – personally for people supported and staff as well as for the people or organisation we are helping.
Need some inspiration? Here are some ideas that people have had.
Grottos
Wrexham decorated the sensory room at the office and invited pre-school children locally to come and meet Father Christmas. A person we support dressed as Father Christmas and read a story to the children. Bedfordshire decorated their learning centre and organised a “Stories with Santa” for children and families. They worked with the local area for people to donate toys and gifts that were then wrapped by people supported and our staff team.
Market place or brighten up a community space
No Limits in Oxfordshire made recyclable decorations and noticed a disused shop in the town was being used as a pop up for people to sell handmade items. They booked a table and sold items, meeting lots of people and spreading a message of reuse and recycle. In the Wirral a person made lots of Christmas stars, he didn’t want to sell them, he offered them to a local community centre to brighten up their space. A group in Hertfordshire made candy canes out of pipe cleaners and used them to decorate a tree in a community space (don’t worry, they will go back after Christmas and tidy it away!)
Seasonal workshops
Warrington and Chesterfield have run wreath making sessions for people locally. People in these areas have made wreaths for several years. They have now started to invite people into organised sessions, co-facilitated by people supported to teach people to make their own wreath.
Do something new and be sponsored
When we talk about what you are good at and what you care about, this fits with the “what you care about”! In Warrington people did the Hope 100 walk through the night raising awareness around suicide prevention. In the Wirral and Greater Manchester, people supported and staff slept out in December recognising homeless people’s experiences. In Milton Keynes people did the MK foodbank challenge surviving on the contents of a food parcel for a week. It was great to raise money but it was also about the experience and everyone who did it gained from it personally.
Gift collection
Bedfordshire linked with Bedford women’s project and created a tree with gift tags. People locally took a tag and bought a gift that people supported took to the Women’s Project and donated it. Leicestershire did a toy amnesty, collecting toys and gifts from and for people locally and really thinking about how to include everyone – people collecting, wrapping and delivering. Students at Wingrave did a collection for a local foodbank, advertising what was needed locally and having a collection box. Some places used the opportunity to link with a local organisation and collect items that will help them. The important thing for this is that we don’t just ask people supported and the staff team to collect and donate, that we open it out more widely to people around us and think about how we can do that.
Christmas sing along
In Greater Manchester there’s a community choir, started by MacIntyre and people locally have joined in. They were contacted by the local council and invited to perform at the Christmas markets! In Milton Keynes they have practiced some songs and invited people to come and join them to sing together in an outside space and have some refreshments.
Everyone Everywhere is not just for Christmas!
So many ideas – I hope that something has inspired you. But remember, Everyone Everywhere is not just for Christmas!!
Let’s take that inspiration into 2025 for more people using their gifts, skills and passions, more connections being made and more impact in our local areas.
