On December the 25, 2017; A local charity together with a group of volunteers from The Church of Pentecost, decided to spend their Christmas day sharing Christmas cards, fruits and gifts with patients and staff at Northwick Park Hospital.
A local Charity called Christ Inspired, teamed up with volunteers from The Church of Pentecost Salem PIWC, to visit 175 patients at Northwick Park Hospital on Christmas day, as part of a christian charitable cause to show care and compassion to others in the local community.
The initiative was guided through the hospital chaplaincy and volunteers received training and guidance in order to ensure the patients’s privacy, wellbeing and confidentiality was a priority.
The charity’s purpose on this visit was to bring festive cheer to enhance the christmas spirit in the wards on this day.
Isabella Sefa Obeng (The co-founder of the Christ Inspired Charity) said, “There are some patients who do not have family who live around to visit them, so those patients will spend the day without a single social visit, so for us being here today it helps”.
Dominic Asamoah, one of the volunteer also said, “It’s difficult to come here on Christmas Day…but when you see people smiling, giving becomes so beautiful in your eyes. And looking at children, elderly people, anyone on Christmas Day being without their family or loved ones, I feel like I fill that gap by being there for them.”
The visit was funded by a project which raised £390 through a social media Gofundme campaign, donations from The Church of Pentecost, and through the sales of Christian Christmas cards. The funds were then used to purchase 175 Christmas cards, 400 bananas, 300 clementines, 20 boxes of chocolates and biscuits and a variety of children’s gifts for the Children’s Ward.
The Pastor of SALEM PIWC, Rev. Prof. Kwabena Agyapong-Kodua said, “As a local Church, this is why we exist. We exist to make a difference in our local community, and on this day, the visitation highlighted the advantage of the Church to its local community”.
David Bryne, The chaplain at Northwick Park Hospital who coordinated the visit explained that the hospital can be quite a lonely place; a lot of patients just want someone to talk to and vent off their pains, struggles and feelings. This is also a vital part of their recovery process.
With the NHS stretched thin for funds and support, this charitable work, could not have come at a better time.