Hundreds of Christmas gifts arrive for Barnsley care home residents after appeals

CHRISTMAS gifts arrived by the sleigh-full for elderly residents at a Barnsley care home following multiple appeals from volunteers and staff.

Hundreds of presents were donated for elderly residents at Deangate Care Home, on Towngate, Mapplewell, when Pam Gosney and her daughter, Steph, put out a message on the Staincross Alliance Facebook group.

The Barnsley mother and daughter duo wanted to bring Christmas cheer to the residents with no family and were inundated with boxes of chocolates, biscuits, sweets, toiletries, books, board games, warm clothing and more.

The care home also received 20 gifts from the Salvation Army and the care home’s “Smellies for Santa” shoe box appeal also saw dozens of donations, contributing to almost 300 received in total.

With more than enough gifts for all the residents at Deangate Care Home, the excess were taken to the Women’s Refuge Centre by members of the Barnsley Methodist Church community group.

Pam, who now volunteers at the care home, said: “While my Mum was in a care home, we learnt that many of the residents had no family and few or very often no visitors at all, which is so sad. I think, unless you work in a care home or visit a loved one there, most people don’t realise this.

“This Christmas we decided to raise awareness and see if any members of our local Facebook group, Staincross Alliance, would like to donate any items for us to gift to care home residents in our village who have no family to spread some festive cheer to them and also so they know they are being thought of.

“The response has been amazing and many kind people have made some lovely gift donations for us to wrap and distribute or even taken their own gifts to care homes in the area.”

As a thank you for the appeal and gifts, staff at Deangate Care Home invited Pam to be part of their annual nativity play.

Rachael Addy, activities coordinator at Deangate Care Home, said: “The Deangate Care Home Smellies for Santa gift appeal and Pam and Steph’s Facebook appeal have been roaring successes, with hundreds of donated gifts for our elderly residents who don’t have family to send them presents.

“We can’t thank the ladies enough for raising awareness within the local community. It was very kind of Pam to take part in our nativity as well, which was a great success and enjoyed by everyone at Deangate.

“Our thanks also goes to all those who donated gifts. They have made a real difference to the lives of our residents over the festive holiday, as they know others are thinking about them during what can be a very lonely time for those without family.”