Kind Warwickshire employees thanked for making Christmas special for housing trust residents

Kind Warwickshire employees who turned Santa for housing trust residents have been thanked for helping make the festive season special for those who might otherwise have faced a cheerless Christmas.

Now, Derventio Housing Trust – which provides accommodation to people who might otherwise be homeless – is already planning ahead so residents can enjoy the festive season again this year.

Warm-hearted staff at Warwickshire & Solihull Community & Voluntary Action (CAVA) spent a day producing handmade Christmas cards as well as putting together cute boxes filled with sweets and treats for residents of the trust, which currently offers 45-bed spaces in the Warwickshire and Leamington area.

Not just that, residents in every one of Derventio’s Warwickshire households were also treated to lavish festive hampers courtesy of employees at Stratford-based insurer NFU Mutual – who decided to give to others for the festive season, rather than organising an office secret Santa amongst themselves.

Penny Wiltshire, funding and development manager at Derventio Housing Trust, said: “We were absolutely blown away by the support and care we have been shown by both the kind employees at NFU Mutual and CAVA.

"The hampers, Christmas cards and chocolate treats were so beautifully and thoughtfully put together and they meant the world to residents when we delivered them.

“It’s important to remember that Christmas is not necessarily full of sweetness and light for a lot of people and residents of Derventio Housing Trust properties are often not able to enjoy the festive season as much as many others, whether that’s for financial reasons or not being able to see family.

"We organised a Christmas hamper appeal for the first time in 2023 to try and help residents enjoy the festive season and these organisations in Warwickshire have been brilliant in supporting us.

"Every one of our residents in Warwickshire received something for Christmas and the smiles on their faces said it all when they were handed over.”

Fiona Spiers, funding and group development officer for Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action, said employees had been delighted to use their ‘Make a Difference’ day to put together hand-made cards and treats for Derventio residents.

She said: “We spent a really nice afternoon making Christmas cards, writing personal messages and getting little boxes filled with sweets and gifts. We were very happy to do it. It was really lovely to receive photos as to how well they were received.”

Meanwhile, when a team of colleagues at NFU Mutual in Stratford heard about Derventio Housing Trust’s Christmas hamper appeal, they jumped at the chance to get involved.

Beth Pritchard, community engagement consultant at NFU Mutual, said: “We have some amazing staff members who organise wonderful fundraising events and challenges for good causes. At Christmas time many of our colleagues think about what they can do for people less fortunate.

“We were so grateful to Penny from Derventio Housing Trust for offering us this opportunity.”

Rob Holmes, an analyst for NFU Mutual, was part of the team of employees who put together the hampers for Derventio Housing Trust.

He said: “We used to do Secret Santa between the team but we have got to the point where there’s about 70 staff, so we discussed what we could do instead of that, and we’ve been delighted to support Derventio.

“The idea was to create a box for each Derventio household, so we filled the hampers with items like chocolate selection boxes and biscuits – the kind of things we might take for granted. Everyone got really stuck in and the boxes looked amazing.”

Last year, for the first time, Derventio Housing Trust organised a Christmas hamper appeal for more than 600 of its residents across the UK – and thanks to the support of many organisations such as CAVA and NFU Mutual, every single person received something at Christmas.