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"I have asthma and my husband has a brain tumour so our daughter, who's a doctor, insisted that we isolate. But we run 2 companies together, and every week we're doing different things for so many different people, so we had to find ways of carrying on doing as much as we could from home. I was already a telephone befriender, and I'm on the steering committee for a dementia-prevention charity. We believe if you stimulate your mind, you can stave off some of the worst symptoms. So we started up a pen pal scheme, getting friends and schoolchildren to write to old people, and buying and sending stamps so they could write back. Then we set up a DVD library because lots of organisations were saying, 'We've got wonderful online', but only 25% of over 65s have the internet. So we bought a dozen portable DVD players, took them to the Jewish Care Centre, and they sent them out with their Meals-on-Wheels along with a list of donated DVDs to choose from. I did a lot of cooking for families who needed help, and we carried on delivering care packages and donating food (working with One Stonegrove food bank who are amazing), and lending schools stuff for their different festivals from the tons of stuff we have stored here. We also bought art and crafts materials for school teachers so they could send them out to their students, and we were giving emotional support to people who weren't allowed to go to funerals, to try and help them get over their grief and not just leave them with a 'No'.
“I'm Orthodox Jewish, but that's irrelevant when it comes to helping the community. We help anyone who needs it. It makes me feel that I’m of value, without anyone telling me what to do.
I’ve gained so much from sharing. It’s given me an insight into how different people in the world live and I think that makes you a whole person. You can live in your bubble, or you can choose to see what’s going on in the world and recognise how lucky you are. But it’s no good being lucky without trying to work on improving other people's luck. You have to stay positive. If tomorrow you're dead, you're dead. Today you'd better make a mark on this world."
"I have asthma and my husband has a brain tumour so our daughter, who's a doctor, insisted that we isolate. But we run 2 companies together, and every week we're doing different things for so many different people, so we had to find ways of carrying on doing as much as we could from home. I was already a telephone befriender, and I'm on the steering committee for a dementia-prevention charity. We believe if you stimulate your mind, you can stave off some of the worst symptoms. So we started up a pen pal scheme, getting friends and schoolchildren to write to old people, and buying and sending stamps so they could write back. Then we set up a DVD library because lots of organisations were saying, 'We've got wonderful online', but only 25% of over 65s have the internet. So we bought a dozen portable DVD players, took them to the Jewish Care Centre, and they sent them out with their Meals-on-Wheels along with a list of donated DVDs to choose from. I did a lot of cooking for families who needed help, and we carried on delivering care packages and donating food (working with One Stonegrove food bank who are amazing), and lending schools stuff for their different festivals from the tons of stuff we have stored here. We also bought art and crafts materials for school teachers so they could send them out to their students, and we were giving emotional support to people who weren't allowed to go to funerals, to try and help them get over their grief and not just leave them with a 'No'.
“I'm Orthodox Jewish, but that's irrelevant when it comes to helping the community. We help anyone who needs it. It makes me feel that I’m of value, without anyone telling me what to do.
I’ve gained so much from sharing. It’s given me an insight into how different people in the world live and I think that makes you a whole person. You can live in your bubble, or you can choose to see what’s going on in the world and recognise how lucky you are. But it’s no good being lucky without trying to work on improving other people's luck. You have to stay positive. If tomorrow you're dead, you're dead. Today you'd better make a mark on this world."
"I have asthma and my husband has a brain tumour so our daughter, who's a doctor, insisted that we isolate. But we run 2 companies together, and every week we're doing different things for so many different people, so we had to find ways of carrying on doing as much as we could from home. I was already a telephone befriender, and I'm on the steering committee for a dementia-prevention charity. We believe if you stimulate your mind, you can stave off some of the worst symptoms. So we started up a pen pal scheme, getting friends and schoolchildren to write to old people, and buying and sending stamps so they could write back. Then we set up a DVD library because lots of organisations were saying, 'We've got wonderful online', but only 25% of over 65s have the internet. So we bought a dozen portable DVD players, took them to the Jewish Care Centre, and they sent them out with their Meals-on-Wheels along with a list of donated DVDs to choose from. I did a lot of cooking for families who needed help, and we carried on delivering care packages and donating food (working with One Stonegrove food bank who are amazing), and lending schools stuff for their different festivals from the tons of stuff we have stored here. We also bought art and crafts materials for school teachers so they could send them out to their students, and we were giving emotional support to people who weren't allowed to go to funerals, to try and help them get over their grief and not just leave them with a 'No'.