Bringing the Christmas spirit to Gloucester Deaf Association (GDA)

The children who attend Gloucestershire Deaf Association’s (GDA) Cirencester Deaf Children’s Club (CDCC) were kept busy at last weekend’s Christmas party with the generosity of GWP Packaging’s Cardboard Christmas Trees.

GWP Packaging was contacted by GDA after they read about how they supplied Whitbourne House with decorated cardboard trees last Christmas, which had helped to remind the residents of the Dementia Care Home the joys of Christmas.

In light of this GWP supplied the children of CDCC a donation of twenty three-dimensional 2ft tall corrugated cardboard Christmas trees for them to decorate in their own unique styles, promoting creativity over the Christmas period.

Gemma Sills, Events and Communications Officer at The GDA, said;

Our young guests were truly mesmerised by the trees on Saturday; we couldn’t have hoped for a better treat for them to celebrate this special season. Our sincere thanks to GWP for donating such a generous gift – they helped make a lot of children at CDCC very happy.

Gloucestershire Deaf Association (GDA) are a cutting edge organisation who provide specialist support services and community activities for the deaf and hard of hearing in Gloucestershire.

The GDA administers events for both adults and children with the inclusion of families. The purpose of the charity is to provide practical and emotional support for deaf people, by assisting them with overcoming communication hurdles and to campaign in favour of better communication access.

Some of the events include; regular lip reading classes, lunch clubs, support sessions, day trips and the monthly children’s club.

In addition the Gloucester Deaf Club takes place every Saturday Evening at Gloucestershire Deaf Community Centre in Colin Road.

It is a perfect opportunity for the Deaf Community to relax using their own language of British Sign Language (BSL), enjoy a drink, sometimes a game of bingo or even playing cards.

CDCC a vibrant and engaging club for Deaf children, as well as their siblings and best friends meet at the Youth Opportunity Play Group Centre on the first Saturday of every month in Cirencester.

They enjoy a range of activities and crafts as well as visitors from people such as the Hedgehog Sanctuary, The Local Police and The Owl Man.

The CDCC’s Christmas party is the children’s favourite event of the year! It gives the children and families a chance to come together and celebrate.

Delighted to be able to contribute towards GDA’s request Managing Director Ruth Cook said:

We originally produced these trees for the children of our own staff and they have enjoyed decorating a great deal. I am really pleased that the cardboard trees have now brought fun and smiles to the children at CDCC.

For further information on the above charities and clubs please click here to visit the Gloucester Deaf Association website, or here to visit the Cirencester Deaf Childrens Club.