Cancelling an event not a life!
Sadly after speaking with environmental health Cherishers has made the decision to cancel its popular Christmas Day Lunch due to concerns over the rise in local Covid cases.
This event, which would have seen the elderly, vulnerable, lonely, and homeless attend our Christmas Lunch, was to have taken place at The Crown Pub, Rugeley, at 2pm on Christmas Day.
Julie Edensor (CEO of Cherishers) said: “Unfortunately, due to the number of cancellations we have received and the rise in cases of COVID in Rugeley and the surrounding area, Cherishers have taken the decision to cancel their Christmas Day Lunch.
“It was not an easy decision to cancel this year’s Christmas Day Lunch, but we must put our elderly / vulnerable visitors, staff and volunteers’ safety and wellbeing first. We will be supporting the community and those who have booked to attend by using all that has been donated to give food parcels, gift hampers and support to the local community over the Christmas period. We hope you understand, and we look forward to continuing with our events next year and seeing you all in 2022.”
When reviewing those who have booked to attend the event 80% of attendees would have been highly vulnerable and fall within the at-risk category. Also there are a number of people who are unvaccinated booked in to attend which also is a risk factor.
Cherishers is also a Home Care agency, and its employees are front-line health workers. Christmas is an extremely busy period for our carers and the pressures that the local rising COVID cases are presenting means that we also cannot risk staff members getting the new variant. Our carers would be helping the elderly / disabled at this event and if they contracted COVID it could possibly have devastating consequences for the vulnerable people we care for daily (some of them being end of life).
Better to cancel Christmas events than grieve later, warns WHO chief amid Omicron spread
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday recommended people cancel holiday gatherings as Omicron continues to spread.
Speaking at a news conference in Geneva, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that "an event cancelled is better than a life cancelled."
"All of us are sick of this pandemic. All of us want to spend time with friends and family. All of us want to get back to normal. The fastest way to do this is for all of us leaders and individuals to make the difficult decisions that must be made to protect ourselves and others."
"In some cases, that will mean cancelling or delaying events," he continued. "But an event cancelled is better than a life cancelled. It's better to cancel now and celebrate later than to celebrate now and grieve later. None of us want to be here again in 12 months time."
Cherishers would like to thank all the local community and their clients for their incredible support in providing donations for the Christmas Day Lunch.
It is sad that despite all the effort, planning and hard work done in preparation, this year’s event cannot go ahead. The donations received will be distributed by Cherishers during the Christmas period across the community by us providing emergency food parcels, gift hampers and support for those that are needy this Christmas!
We will also be providing a gift to all those who booked to attend the Christmas Day Lunch and will be maintain contact with them during the Christmas Holiday.
