On Tuesday 09 November, an army of volunteers were up bright and early, putting the final touches to the Mayflower 400 holiday packs – COVID safely of course.

Caraway’s initiative supported by a grant from Southampton City Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Reaching over 100 older members of our community. A day of fun-filled activity that connected us all as we chatted on doorsteps and together on zoom!

The distribution team arrived in staggered order throughout the morning to collect the goodie bags for delivery in their area. A big thank you to everyone who helped get the 115 bags to their intended recipients.  It was a mammoth task finding everyone. It was truly lovely to see the smiles they brought.

With the packs delivered and everyone enjoying their afternoon tea. We moved on to our interactive zoom call for a bit of light-hearted entertainment. With forty people on the call Ros, Hannah and Tim opened proceedings. We broke into smaller groups to catch up and discuss what everyone had enjoyed doing so far. Many people were saving the crafts for something to look forward to later.

Discussion moved swiftly on to our first activity with FolkActive for some sea shanty singing and dancing.  With the group singing away to “what shall we do with a drunken sailor” and “my bonnie lies over the ocean” while dancing with hankies on our chairs.

Tim took the reins for our Mayflower Bingo. His brilliant entertaining and educating chat took us through two rounds of Bingo.  Lesley Cunningham and Terry Martin won the first round and with over six winners on the second round catching all the names proved too tricky.

We closed the event with senior saints holding a fabulously nautical seated exercise class. Marion Gealer from the Saints foundation took us through a gentle workout for legs and arms with stretching out any aches and pains. 

Reflecting on the day’s activities and how the Mayflower is connected to what we now know as Thanksgiving.  We are thankful that we could come together bringing this to fruition in such inaccessible circumstances, perhaps a beacon of positivity for this second lockdown.

We look forward to our next adventure with you all…