Christmas spirit offered ‘right through the year’

A charity which supports vulnerable people in Jersey says it has “the Christmas spirit right through the year”.

The Grace Trust which helps between 700 to 750 people a year struggling with poverty, loneliness or addiction issues said it was seeing “a much wider range” of people from all layers of society, including more older people needing community support.

General manager Vinni Jones said the charity aimed to put a smile on people’s faces from its drop-in base at Lewis Street in St Helier.

It helped 500 people at the food bank every year and also ran singing, art and Saturday lunches.

He said there were extra festive goodies at the food bank and 92 people recently sat down to an “absolutely brilliant” Christmas meal at St Paul’s Centre with 20 volunteers on hand to help out.

Entertainment was provided by Fiddler’s Green and the trust’s Parklife choir.

Mr Jones said they saw more people at Christmas because it can be a challenging time.

“Just come down, knock on the window and we’ll give you what we’ve got.”

He explained that “we can offer a lot more than simply the food and Christmas goodies” and said people are often surprised at all the activities on offer and encouraged them to have a go.

He said the charity also had a fund to help younger mums and links with other agencies so it can offer toy vouchers at Christmas.

Support was also available year round for struggling islanders.

“It’s just a matter of being able to offer that understanding and to talk about January, talk about February for them. We’ll still be here for you,” Mr Jones said.

The government has also reminded islanders about mental health support over Christmas.

There is 24 hour support available from the Adult Mental Health crisis team, on 445 290 and online support from Together All.