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Christmas tea brings communities together

BBC Carol and Jess look at the camera and Jess smiles. They're both sitting down and Carol is to the right. She's an older lady with a brown cardigan and a floral dress underneath. She has grey hair which is shoulder length. Jess has a denim jacket on with a cream coloured turtleneck jumper underneath. She has short dark brown hair.BBC
Carol Adhair (left) and Jess McGovern (right) met and formed a friendship at the festive tea event

A festive tea in Jersey helped bring communities together and help people who might be struggling with loneliness over Christmas.

The event was aimed at connecting more elderly people with younger families who may not have older generations living in the island.

It was organised by the Connect Me government initiative, which is designed to improve the wellbeing of the public through culture, arts and physical activities.

The event was open to everyone and people were served food and drink while music was also played.

'Glad I came'

Carol Adhair was invited to the tea because she only has one family member still in Jersey and she met Jess McGovern at the event where they bonded over shared interests.

Ms Adhair said "I think this is great" and it was "so inspiring and I'm so glad I came."

She added: "I think it's really important to help everybody really from birth to death."

Ms McGovern said: "The tea was for people like Carol to come along to connect with others but also to share her wisdom because you can tell she's a very wise lady so a lot of people have benefited from her coming."

Jo and Jen smile at the camera and they're standing in a youth centre hall with dinner tables and chairs behind them. Jo is to the right and is slightly shorter with Jen putting her arm over her shoulder. They're both wearing Christmas jumpers.
Jo Goodhall (left) and Jen Neill (right) came up with the idea for the tea event

Jen Neill and Jo Goodhall from Connect Me helped organise the event and oversaw how it went on the day.

Ms Neil said: "We're hoping that we can create some bonds, share some experiences and then people will continue to meet up after this."

Ms Goodhall added: "It is giving people an opportunity to come and to get together and if we don't provide the opportunity for people to mix, it won't happen."

Dozens of people signed up to come to the free event that was hosted at Les Squez Jersey Youth Centre.

A little girl is sitting at a chair by a table between two women and she's showing one of them what they've made in their hands. The woman is reacting with surprise to the child. The child is wearing a red Christmas jumper with the woman to the right in a black Christmas jumper with a Christmas Pudding decoration. The other woman is wearing a dark jumper with white stripes. On their table are arts and crafts items.
People and families also bonded over arts and crafts at the event

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