Isolated older folk across Renfrewshire have been given a new companion for the winter – an amaryllis plant!
The green-fingered gift is the brainchild of staff at Paisley-based Roar Connections for Life who have worked tirelessly to keep older people staying mobile and connected during the pandemic.
Operations manager Tracy Wallace took delivery of over 100 planted bulbs last weekend and another 50 are expected this week.
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And she said the reaction of people to receiving the flowering winter bloom has been fantastic.
“We’ve given them to the most vulnerable and isolated people we know of, who may be shielding and haven’t seen anyone since March.
“They’ve told us it’s made their day.
“The feedback has been tremendous, it’s been a lovely project.
“It’s cheered up the staff in here, we’re struggling at times, everyone is.
“Staff have been out delivering the plants and it’s been good for them too.”
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An amaryllis bulb flowers in the winter. The gift bag includes notes to help people grow their plants which includes the line, “sometimes they need propped up when they get heavy. Sometimes, so do we.”
Tracy added: “Our main goal is to keep people mobile and connected.
“They have to get up to water the plant and we’ve got people phoning each other to ask how their plants are doing.
“We’re encouraging people to name their plants and talk to it every day, it’s all a bit of fun.
“We’ve got volunteer befrienders who are now telephone befrienders and are phoning their men and women each week.
“They’ve been asking them how their plants are doing and having a bit of a competition with each other about whose are growing fastest.”
Tracy said Roar normally gives out Christmas presents to people who go along to their lunch clubs but they’ve had to think differently this year.
All the bags have Roar’s contact details on them and also include a poppy, which were gifted by Poppyscotland.
Tracy said: “A lot of people can’t get out to the shops to get a poppy as normal and that has been very well received."
To find out more about how Roar are supporting older people during the pandemic, go to www.roarforlife.org, phone them on 0141 889 7481 of email info@roarforlife.org
