Carshalton and Merton Colleges have teamed up with Age UK Merton to organise 200 gift bags for elderly residents in the London Borough of Merton.
This has been a momentus project for the Colleges with students and staff working together to fundraise from the community, secure donations from local employers, decorate and fill bags plus ensuring deliveries were made under secure Covid-19 measures.
Donations have been received from Wimbledon Tennis Club, Alstom Engineering, Abel & Co, Rygas, Waitrose, Asda and Costco plus support and donations from both Colleges, students, staff and parents.
Students across both Colleges have been involved; Catering students made shortbread, Business students managed donation events, Media students produced promotional flyers, Foundation Learning and Health & Social Care students decorated the gift bags and the Health & Social Care students have been delivering the bags.
We were also fortunate to be supported by the Mayor of Merton, Cllr Sally Kenny who visited Merton College to judge a competition for the best decorated gift bag.
The gift bags have been joyfully received by 200 elderly Merton residents. Kathy, a local resident who received a pack said: “Thanks so much for our lovely goodie bags, we certainly don’t feel forgotten at all! You have all been so good to us.”
Age UK Merton said: “Thank you to all the students from Merton and Carshalton Colleges for delivering festive packs to people across the borough.”
Angela Woolnough, Employability Lead commented about the project: “ We are so proud of our students who worked tirelessly on this project, they really loved every minute of it. We feel that this year has been especially hard for everyone so we wanted to create a sense of belonging and team work amongst our students at the same time as providing much needed support to our local community.”
