Grace Cares Announces Winner of National Tea Party Day Fundraiser and Invites Volunteers to Help Tackle Loneliness

A not-for-profit social care charity has announced the winner of its National Tea Party Day fundraising raffle, raising £550 to support older people and unpaid caregivers at risk of loneliness and isolation.

Grace Cares ran the campaign in partnership with British manufacturer Arthur Price, offering supporters the chance to win an Arthur Price Everyday Classic 42-piece boxed cutlery set worth £279.

The winning ticket was drawn on 21 April – National Tea Party Day. The winner was Jan, who is a nurse and always puts people first!

A total of 55 tickets were purchased by supporters across the community, helping raise vital funds for preventative support programmes that reduce isolation and strengthen wellbeing.

Alongside celebrating the success of the fundraiser, Grace Cares is now encouraging more people to join its growing volunteer “tribe” by becoming community tea party hosts, helping create regular opportunities for connection across local neighbourhoods.

Supporting Connection Before Crisis

Funds raised will directly support Grace Cares’ community tea parties, Care Club sessions, and hardship grants, helping older people and unpaid caregivers access connection, trusted advice, and practical support before challenges escalate.

Loneliness is now widely recognised as a major public health issue. According to Age UK, around 1.4 million older people often feel lonely, while many unpaid caregivers experience social isolation alongside caring responsibilities.

Community-based initiatives such as tea parties play an important preventative role by:

supporting independence and wellbeing
strengthening local networks
reducing escalation to crisis support
easing pressure on health and social care services

Hannah Montgomery, co-founder of Grace Cares, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to everyone who supported the raffle and to the generosity of Arthur Price. Something as simple as sharing tea and conversation can make a profound difference. The funds raised will help us reach more older people and unpaid caregivers with connection, advice and practical support when they need it most.

We’re now inviting more people to join the Grace Cares tribe as volunteer tea party hosts. You don’t need specialist skills – just warmth, kindness and a willingness to bring people together.”

Strengthening Communities Through Small Moments of Connection

National Tea Party Day highlights how everyday community activities can improve wellbeing and reduce isolation. Across the UK, local groups, care providers, and volunteers hosted tea parties to mark the occasion and encourage meaningful social interaction.

Grace Cares’ approach focuses on early intervention and prevention, helping people stay independent for longer while building stronger local support networks.

Simon Price, chairman of Arthur Price, said:

“We are delighted to support Grace Cares and the important work they do bringing people together. Campaigns like this show how simple acts of connection can have a lasting impact.”

Join the Grace Cares Tribe as a Volunteer Tea Party Host

Following the success of the campaign, Grace Cares is encouraging individuals, community groups, and organisations to continue the momentum by hosting tea parties throughout the year.

Volunteer tea party hosts help:

reduce loneliness in their community
support unpaid caregivers
create welcoming local spaces for conversation and connection
strengthen neighbourhood resilience

Hannah added:

“National Tea Party Day maybe one day in the calendar, but the need for connection continues every day. Hosting a tea party is one of the simplest and most powerful ways people can make a difference locally. We would love more people to join our tribe and help us bring communities together.”

Supporting Image: James and Karanjeet Grace Cares Placement students

Green Groovy Dance Night Raises £500 to Help Keep Life-Changing Van on the Road

Rugeley event combines fun, sustainability, and community spirit in support of Grace Cares

A vibrant evening of sequins, sustainability and spectacular performances took centre stage in Rugeley, as the Green Groovy Dance Night raised £500 for local not-for-profit Grace Cares. The funds will help support the charity’s van crew, who will collect and redistribute vital care equipment across communities.

Hosted by Rebecca Cork from The Mount Rebecca Homes (a residential care provider supporting adults with additional needs) the event was inspired by the book Grace Cares launched last year Did You Deliver Sustainable Care Today? A Sustainability Guide for Care Managers. Determined to combine entertainment with purpose, Rebecca curated a night that celebrated climate-conscious choices, creativity, and community care.

Performers travelled from across the UK to take part, with the lineup including belly dance, burlesque, and hoop dance. A generous £200 donation from Foresters Financial helped fund the catering, while a packed raffle and late-night music added to the excitement.

“I wanted to create something that was fun, inclusive, and had a positive impact,” said organiser Rebecca Cork. “After reading the Grace Cares sustainability guide, I felt motivated to do something local that also contributed to the bigger picture. I’m so proud of everyone who came together to support this brilliant cause.”

Thank you and funds raised

The evening was made possible thanks to the generosity of local supporters. Special thanks go to Phil Tester who compared and DJ’d the evening free of charge, staying late to ensure the music kept playing. The venue, The Pear Tree Club in Rugeley, also kindly donated the room at no cost, with Mark Eustice providing exceptional support throughout. AJ Pillkington Photography generously offered their time to capture the event’s best moments.

The event raised an incredible £510 which will contribute to Grace Cares’ campaign to fund a part-time, two-person van crew for 12 months. The charity’s van is a vital part of its mission, collecting unwanted care equipment from NHS Trusts, care homes and community members, and ensuring it’s reused rather than sent to landfill.

Grace Cares Van Project

To date, the Grace Cares van project has:

Saved over 2,300 pieces of care equipment from landfill, including 770 through a partnership with Staffordshire County Council
Provided support to more than 1,800 people, including hardship grants and access to affordable equipment

“The van is so much more than a vehicle, it’s a lifeline,” said Hannah Montgomery, co-founder of Grace Cares. “It connects us with healthcare partners, care homes, and families in need. We’re incredibly grateful to Rebecca and everyone involved in Green Groovy. Events like these help us keep this vital work on the road.”

Each week, the Grace Cares van:

Visits NHS and care settings
Collects unwanted care equipment for second-life use
Rescues items from landfill
Supports the health and care workforce, older people, and the planet

Grace Cares is encouraging others to get involved. Whether by donating, volunteering, or hosting a fundraising event, every action helps extend the reach and impact of their work.

For more information, please contact:
Grace Cares
📞 01543 730189
📧 hello@grace-cares.com
🌐 www.grace-cares.com

Picture shows belly dancing group Sisters of Tribellica.

Grace Cares Sends Care Equipment to Ukraine in Support of War-Affected Patients

Grace Cares, the not-for-profit social enterprise committed to making care more sustainable, has delivered a van load of essential care equipment to Ukraine, supporting patients affected by war-related trauma, amputation, and post-surgical recovery. The donation was made in partnership with frontline medical volunteers, Driving Ukraine and humanitarian organisations working directly in conflict zones, ensuring the items reach those who need them most.

While Grace Cares primarily serves the UK by redistributing surplus care equipment to individuals, care homes, and community groups, this international donation supports their wider goal of reducing waste in the care sector through a responsible, circular approach.

The shipment includes mobility aids and trauma-support items. Items such as walking frames, crutches, wound dressings, catheters, and stoma care kits were all unable to be reused in the UK due to minor cosmetic damage, changes in infection control standards, or equipment upgrades – but remain fully functional and potentially life-saving in the right setting.

“We are heartbroken by the continued suffering caused by the war in Ukraine, and when we were asked if we could help, we knew we had the right resources to offer,” said Emma Smith, Co-Founder of Grace Cares. “These are items that are no longer usable in the UK – often due to missing parts or not meeting updated NHS standards – but they still have value and purpose. This is about compassion, dignity, and doing what we can to help, while staying true to our mission of sustainability.”

Previous humanitarian convoys have included defibrillators, ECG machines, and ultrasound units donated by UK hospitals, many of which were replaced due to system upgrades or had superficial issues such as cracked casings or worn wheels. Grace Cares’ donation complements these efforts by supplying practical, patient-centred equipment to support recovery and mobility in the wake of trauma.

“Much of the medical equipment we send out has cosmetic faults or has been replaced by newer versions – but is still entirely usable,” said Steve Eccleshall, one of the Ukraine convoy organisers from Driving Ukraine. “We’re grateful to Grace Cares for responding so quickly and generously. Every item they’ve provided will make a difference to people who have lost so much.”

Grace Cares ensures all international donations are carbon-offset and only send equipment that cannot be redistributed within the UK. Their UK-first approach means every opportunity is taken to support domestic care needs first, while ensuring that valuable resources are never wasted.

Care Home Open Week exists to connect care homes across the country with their community. With around 1.5 million people working in the adult social care sector in England in 2021/22, more than in the NHS, it is the largest sector in the UK. It is a sector that we will all be touched by, and it is tragically underfunded, with Councils underfunding adult care services by at least £2.9bn in 2021/22.

Grace Cares is a Lichfield based, not-for-profit that wants to stop care items needlessly going into landfill, make them available to people at around a third of the price, and use the profits to help care workers, older people and their families with hardship grants and the local community with social groups and activities.

They teamed up with Barchester – The Spires Care Home to host a corporate afternoon tea over Care Home Open Week to raise funds.

Twenty local business owners joined the fund-raising fun meeting residents of the care home, enjoying entertainment from Georgian Jono (a local historian) and the barbershop quartet, and indulging in a delightful afternoon tea.

“We are absolutely delighted to have supported Grace Cares to raise £2,850 across the event and so proud to be able to show the local business community what social care is all about.”

Amy Doyle – The Spires Care Home Manger

Would you like to support? If you are a business or individual that wants to make a difference to the lives of the elderly and disabled, join Grace Cares for their upcoming fundraising and community support efforts. Be the change you want to see.

If you have any questions, please contact Grace Cares by email hello@grace-cares.com or call 01543 326819.

Grace Cares Pre-Loved Care equipment sustainable care sustainability in care

We are excited to announce that we are working with Barchester The Spires to put on an charming corporate afternoon tea to raise funds for Grace Cares and celebrate Care Home Open Week. We are trying our best to build up our fund pot to be able to give out our first round of grants.

To help you visualise just some of the positive impact and initiatives your involvement will go towards:

£10 could pay for sandwiches and cakes for one of our over 75’s tea parties.
£20 could fund an older person to receive our telephone befriending service.
£35 could pay for an older person to enjoy a Christmas party (which we hold in January to help keep the January blues at bay).
£50 could give an older person a weekly taxi service to get to and from three community groups to have vital social interaction.
£100 could pay for a months worth of grocery delivery for an older person.
£300 could provide an energy top up across winter months to ensure care workers and older people aren’t sitting in the cold scared to put their heating on.
£385 could replace a care workers or older persons washing machine so they have clean clothes.
£500 could provide one care worker or older person with ten sessions with a qualified councillor to support their mental health and stress levels.
£520 could give an older person a weekly taxi service to get to and from a community group to have vital social interaction.
£1,600 could help a care worker or older person with the financial burden of laying a loved one to rest.

📅 Friday 30th June – 3-5pm

💷 £35 per person

So you need to ask yourself…

💚 Do you like cake?

💚 Do you love Lichfield?

💚 Do you like live music?

💚 Do you love helping others?

If YES, then you need to register for one of only 20 places!

3-3.15pm – Arrival and drink

3.15-3.25 – Welcome from Grace Cares and Barchester

3.25- 3.35 – A history of Lichfield from Jono

3.35-3.45 – 3 songs from the Barbershop Quartet

3.45 – 4.30 – Afternoon Tea 🎂

4.30- 4.40 – Heads and Tails

4.40-4.50 – Raffle

4.50-5 – Thank you and final count on total money raised 😊

If you have any questions or would like to book a space (or two) please email hello@grace-cares.com or call 01543 326819

NHS Birmingham Community Trust partnership Grace Cares

Grace Cares is delighted to announce the launch of our partnership with Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

How does this work?

We travel to their pick-up/storage location and pick up any working and reusable care equipment they need to get rid of.

We work closely with their waste manager and monitoring manager with email/phone/video calls (to save carbon on travel instead of face-to-face meetings) to touch base.
We set up a dedicated email for them to communicate with Grace Cares to ensure no requests are missed. They are also able to phone Grace Cares head office number and have all three founder’s mobile phone numbers.
All of our pickup personnel are always clearly identifiable as they wear branded apparel.
We were happy to undertake DBS checks etc but at a cost to the NHS Community Trust.
We go to their pick-up/storage location and pick up any working and reusable care equipment they need to dispose of.
With each pick-up we require both parties to fill in digital donation forms (that we provide but have been created with the input of the Birmingham NHS Community Trust) that outlines when the pickup has taken place and by whom, what items have been picked up and what condition they are in. This is signed by both a representative from Grace Cares and the NHS Community Trust. This also documents that they have donated the care equipment items and are now giving them to Grace Cares.
We also have a formal transfer of ownership agreement signed by both entities.

“I really excited to make this work and give something back to our Community.” Waste Manager, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

“We are so glad that this partnership has launched. It shows commitment from the NHS to stop the throw away culture and we are happy to support their ‘Delivering a Net Zero National Health Service’ strategy.” Emma Smith, co-founder, Grace Cares

If you’re an NHS trust, GP practice, care home, home care, funeral director, removal company, company investing in & financing care homes or any other business that might come in contact with care equipment please do get in touch. We can send you our How & Why proposal document which includes a comprehensive breakdown of the benefits of partnering with Grace Cares which includes:

Cost saving
Environmental and sustainability impact
Corporate social responsibility
Best practice and other benefits