An Oldham charity is urging residents not to post physical Christmas cards this year and instead send electronic cards to raise funds for people living with dementia, mental health conditions, and unpaid carers.
Making Space, a national health and social care charity that runs the Oldham Dementia Service which supports people living with dementia, is encouraging people to send an ‘elf-tronic’ Christmas card through its Elf and Social Care Christmas campaign this festive season.
To send an electronic card residents need to make a one-off charity donation and 100 per cent of funds raised will go directly to help unpaid carers and people living with dementia and mental health conditions around the UK, including in Oldham.
Bob Towers, fundraising manager at Making Space, said: “Many people are at breaking point with energy and food costs rising.
"Carers and disabled people spend more time at home, have more assistive equipment in their houses and travel more to medical appointments, so they have the least money but are proportionately spending more. This campaign helps you to spend less, whilst supporting a charity at the same time.
“Making Space is in a fortunate position that our fundraising team is paid for by management costs, so all of the donations will go directly to frontline services.”
Keri Smith, the charity’s head of development and fundraising added: ‘The cost-of-living crisis is also a mental health crisis due to the anxiety created when people are unable to have their basic needs met and can’t see a way out of the situation they are in.
“We now need more funding than before to offer additional help to the people we support in Oldham and beyond, whether that be food vouchers, money for energy bills, household goods or extra mental health support.”
To help vulnerable people this Christmas send a Making Space ‘elf-tronic’ card by visiting https://fundraising.makingspace.co.uk/elftroniccards
Contact the Oldham Dementia service by emailing Oldham.Dementia-Service@makingspace.co.uk or calling 0161 633 2403.
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