Wigan Athletic Community Trust sets out to tackle loneliness at Christmas

Wigan Athletic Community Trust is inviting supporters to help them tackle loneliness this Christmas across the borough.
Wigan Athletic Community Trust is inviting supporters to help them tackle loneliness this Christmas across the boroughWigan Athletic Community Trust is inviting supporters to help them tackle loneliness this Christmas across the borough
Wigan Athletic Community Trust is inviting supporters to help them tackle loneliness this Christmas across the borough

Wigan Athletic Community Trust is inviting supporters to help them tackle loneliness this Christmas across the borough.

During the festive period, the club’s official charity will be delivering Christmas support packages to people at risk of isolation, as part of the Tackling Loneliness Together programme. And a £5 donation from Latics supporters will significantly help the cause and ensure they can deliver to more people over the festive period.

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Contributions from supporters will assist the Community Trust in providing a number of items within the bags including Christmas puddings, crafts and other festive gifts.

Latics are one of 31 EFL clubs involved in the programme launched by the EFL Trust and supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) during the summer to tackle loneliness among older people. As part of the programme, staff have been providing a number of services to ensure those most vulnerable continue to feel connected to their local community, including virtual coffee mornings, walking groups, phone calls and socially distanced garden gate visits.

So far more than 1,000 phone calls have been made to residents and supporters to check in and offer any further support whilst over 70 socially distanced garden gate visits have taken place.

Teresa Dexter, who has benefitted from both phone calls and visits from staff, said: “The support during lockdown has been very, very welcome with the visits and the phone calls. It’s been nice as I live alone and we haven’t been able to see much of our families.

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“It was nice to know someone was coming and that someone cared enough to come and chat or phone just for 10 minutes. It gave me something to look forward to.”

If you would like to refer someone who would benefit from the services, contact the Trust by calling 01942 318090 or email [email protected]. Or to donate, visit justgiving.com/wiganathletic-communitytrust.

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