Happy new year from all at Willow!
We had hoped to begin 2021 with news of how our Special Day service was back up and running and helping seriously ill young adults once more spend precious time with their nearest and dearest.
However, the latest lockdown, and government advice for clinically vulnerable people to resume shielding, means that we will be delivering our adapted service for a little while longer.
The health and wellbeing of the people we work with is, as always, Willow’s number one priority, and we simply can’t put them at risk while infection rates are high.
But as 2020 has shown us, the Willow spirit is as strong as ever! Last year, with our friends at Not Another Bunch of Flowers, we developed Positivity Packs full of inspirational goodies for people awaiting their Special Day. We’re hard at work now to extend this service and keep spirits up as we head into spring.
As the vaccine programme progresses and lockdown eases, we’ll be looking at ways to bring Special Days to people at home, and then resume our service in full later in 2021. If you are waiting for your Special Day and haven’t heard from us, please see our latest guidance. For all the latest developments, make sure to follow us on social media or subscribe to our emails.
In the meantime, with more vaccines coming online every day, we now know that there is light at the end of this long tunnel. Special Days have always offered this hope and togetherness to people going through the toughest times. When our service resumes in full, it will be thanks to the tireless support of people like you, who continued to make hope possible. If you’d like to spread positivity through the last days of lockdown and make Special Days a reality, please see all the ways you can support our work.
With very best wishes,
Jonathan Aves,
Chief Executive Officer