A SMALL group of local people have formed ‘The Appreciation Society Frome’ to secretly thank key workers and healthcare workers in the community for their work during the pandemic.
The group, who wish to remain anonymous, deliver home made packages – with sweet treats, gifts and messages of thanks – to local key workers that have been nominated for the work that they do. And so far, the group has delivered 30 ‘surprise’ boxes of thanks to various people in and around Frome – and have now set a target of reaching 100 people.
“We are a small group of local people who want to put some positivity back into the community in these challenging times,” said a member of the group. The society originated when we were discussing how we wanted to thank key workers and healthcare workers for the incredible work they are doing, but were unsure how we could truly thank them.
“The concept arose from the desire to say, we see you, we are grateful for you, we appreciate you. In this we wanted to give a small token of appreciation to make them smile and have a little bit of the love back that they give out to all in their care every day.
“We deliver home made care packages to their doors, we try and customise each box with; home made brownies, coloured hearts and drawings from children in ‘The little appreciation society’, medical fun facts, handwritten recipes, their name written in beautiful calligraphy and a handwritten card of thanks. There are also shop bought items like face masks, chocolate, epsom salts, a deck of cards, earrings, snazzy socks etc.
“We started as a self-funded organisation and now we have raised just over £350 for the project. We have received over 50 nominations of incredible people in our community and successfully hand delivered 30 boxes to date.”
The Appreciation Society Frome is now appealing for more nominations and has set a fundraising target of £1,000 to support their efforts – each gift box costs roughly £10.
Explaining the types of people they have thanked so far, the group said, “By healthcare professionals we mean anyone working in healthcare to support our local community.
“With this we have already delivered boxes to nurses, doctors, health care assistants, care home managers, care home assistants, immunisation nurses, midwives, medical admin clerks, ward managers, community nurses, mental health nurses and A&E receptionists and assistants.
“Most of these people have directly been impacted by Covid or are working to support their community as it is impacted by Covid.”
For more information about the group and how to nominate someone, visit the website: www.appreciationsociety.org
To donate and support ‘The Appreciation Society Frome’ visit the website: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/fromeappreciationsociety
