Into a New Year

Shortly before Christmas, lots of those who attend the daytime projects at Caring For Life gathered in what was a very full Centre for the annual party, with plenty of laughter and general silliness! It’s always a lovely time to celebrate and to wish one another  a Happy Christmas. Great efforts were made in the lead up to Christmas, to ensure that everyone supported by Caring For Life was provided for at Christmas, and had the chance to attend at least one meal, party or special event. 

Once the Christmas celebrations are over, many folks can feel quite low, and a New Year “looming” can be quite a frightening thing for some of the men and women supported by Caring For Life. Listening to Big Ben strike midnight and the turn of a New Year can make any of us stop and wonder what the coming year will bring.

But if you are surviving on a very low income, you are about to lose your home through no fault of your own, you feel down all the time, you are facing treatment for a serious illness, or your home situation just isn’t safe; then, along with all that, you have no one “in your corner”, the turning of the year can be a stomach-churning moment.

We are so thankful that, shortly before Christmas, we were able to move two people into safe, new homes, and we were able to take a new resident into one of our supported homes, just in time for Christmas. All those we support at Caring For Life know that we care and that we will be there for them, and that means the world. 

Yet, as we move into a new year, none of us knows what will happen during the next twelve months. As a Christian charity, our hope and trust is in Christ and we pray that, during the coming year, many more people will find safety, a refuge and hope for the future in Christ alone.

Seeking Food and Shelter

Caring For Life is blessed to be sited at Crag House Farm, where we see many beautiful sights, even on crisp, frosty, wintry days. The sunrises and sunsets can be amazing at this time of the year and men and women attending daytime therapeutic projects here start to comment when they see a really glorious sunset at the end of the afternoon. 

A closer look enables us to point out lots of birds feeding on the hedgerows and trees around the Farm. With a bumper crop of holly berries this year, we have seen flocks of redwings gobbling up the berries, joined by blackbirds, mistle thrushes and also jays.

The berries form a vital food source, whilst other birds flock to our bird feeding stations. 

The birds have been busily feeding from early morning till almost dark, to stock up on their reserves before very cold nights. Wrens and long tailed tits can also be seen flocking together at sunset, seeking out sheltered spots for a communal roost, to help them survive the night.

At Caring For Life, we receive referrals of people seeking food and shelter all year round, but these requests can increase in the more severe weather. We often need to deliver a food parcel immediately to someone in need, and there may be requests for accommodation which have to be dealt with speedily in a crisis. There is always lots to do for Christmas events, as well as ongoing planning, plus starting to deliver gifts and hampers. But a priority is to seek to ensure that each person has the food and shelter they need.

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Feeding the Birds

In different areas of Crag House Farm, bird feeding stations have been installed to enable us to feed the birds regularly. This task becomes especially important as the weather worsens and the hours of daylight shorten. 

We are thrilled to have sizeable colonies of tree sparrows here at Crag House Farm, the home of Caring For Life. Tree sparrows are still on the Red List for Birds of Conservation Concern and we are encouraged by how well they are flourishing in the environment here, due to nesting sites, nest boxes and habitat creation, as well as regular feeding of a suitable birdseed. 

The feeding stations are frequented by lots of other birds as well, and seeing birds feeding quietly is something that visitors to the site can enjoy, as well as those on therapeutic projects at Caring For Life, who help to top up the feeders.

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#CragHouseFarm #CaringForLife #CFL #BirdFeeding #Conservation #FeedtheBirds