Jigsaw festive meal funded by Waitrose

A Mansfield-based charity has secured funding to provide a Christmas meal to help isolated people enjoy Christmas with others this year.

Supermarket giants, Waitrose, will fund Jigsaw Support Scheme’s Christmas meal as part of its Community Social Responsibility programme.

The meal will cater for older, lonely and isolated adults living in Mansfield and Ashfield.

Ginny Cullen, Jigsaw’s fund raiser, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to receive this support from Waitrose. It means that lonely and isolated older people living in Mansfield, Ashfield and beyond will be able to sit down to a Christmas lunch in the company of other people.

“For many of those attending this will be the only Christmas celebration they will attend. Christmas is the loneliest time of the year and the event will increase attendees’ health and well-being.”

Research shows that acute loneliness affects physical and mental health, leading to heart conditions, depression and dementia.

The Campaign to End Loneliness has found that loneliness is as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Jigsaw’s services include At Home Befriending and Group Befriending. At Home Befriending is delivered in the home by 60 volunteers to 80 lonely and housebound over 60’s who would otherwise not have a meaningful conversation in their entire week. The Christmas lunch took place today at the Rumbles on Station Road in Sutton.