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One Stop York treats elderly support group with their own Christmas party!
Christmas came early for a community group, which support the elderly in York, thanks to One Stop.
Over the last few months, the retail giant has asked its 10,600 colleagues – the length and breadth of the UK – to nominate a group or charity within their community who they felt deserved a traditional Christmas dinner.
From a huge number of nominations, One Stop selected an elderly support group, which was founded and nominated by One Stop York store manager, Jo Stephenson.
A group of 31 elderly residents were treated to a roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings, followed by bread and butter pudding. The meal was provided by Premier Chefs, who whipped it up at the Merchant and Taylors’ Hall in York, using many of the ingredients readily available at One Stop stores.
Jo, who has worked at One Stop in York for more than 20 years, founded the group 10 years ago after realising a lot of her customers were elderly and could not get out and about much. She also helps them with daily tasks, such as getting their groceries home, picking up their prescriptions and even taking them for days out to the seaside.
Commenting on the support group Jo selflessly founded she said: “They deserve it. A lot of them haven’t got anybody or they can’t get out for health reasons. We try to get them from A to B, getting family members involved, giving them lifts to places and we’ve even started to fundraise to be able to take them on day trips.
“The meal meant everything; it was just the best! They enjoyed it so much and it felt so wonderful to give them something to really look forward to and enjoy. They even had their own One Stop Mini Eddy the Elf to take home with them and thanks to the support of Nestle, each guest was given a delicious chocolate treat.
Liz Fox, Head of Store Support at One Stop said: “It’s the second year we’ve run a community Christmas meal for a group nominated by a colleague and we felt the York group were more than deserving.
“The work that Jo has done there over the last decade is incredible and has brought joy to so many and it’s been wonderful for us to be able to support her further. It’s a testament to the community spirit that is at the core of our One Stop values.”
Jo Added: “I’d like to think that if my mother or gran was still here that somebody would do it for them. We like to know that they have somewhere to go and people around them who care.”
This year One Stop is supporting The Alzheimer’s Society through its fundraising efforts and a representative from the charity attended the event to show their support and join in on all the Christmas fun.
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