Bramham villagers rally to aid elderly

Kind-hearted volunteers and generous contributors combined to stage the festive village hall lunch for older people who would otherwise have spent Christmas Day alone.

A further 40 hampers were hand delivered to people in the community whose personal circumstances mean they are socially isolated for much of the year.

The mammoth loneliness busting effort was organised by Bramham Village Hall Committee, who hailed the heart-warming messages of thanks their volunteers received as testament to the impact they’ve made.

Pete Dunn, Vice chair for Bramham Village Hall Management Committee, said: “It was a real community effort this year, both from within the village and beyond, with people freely donating their time and efforts to make an event the whole community can be proud of.

“The response we’ve had just goes to show what being a community really should be about - a group of people that live in the same area and truly care about one another.”

This year’s effort was supported by a grants from many local supporters, one being the charity Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE).

Mark Dobson, Chief Operating Officer at WiSE, said: “We’ve always been clear as a charity that to help more people in our communities we need to form strong and lasting relationships with brilliant, grass roots organisations.

“Bramham Village Hall Committee is the perfect example of this ethos and it’s obvious that they’ve put our funding to good use - helping those who would otherwise have spent Christmas Day isolated and alone have a festive celebration to remember.”

Wetherby in Support of the Elderly (WiSE) is a registered charity organisation part funded by Leeds City Council (LCC).

Its aim is to improve quality of life for the over 60s by providing community based activities, information, help and support.