Every year, we invite people to send us Christmas cards filled with festive messages, which our volunteers deliver to residents in care homes. This simple act of kindness brings genuine happiness and helps ensure that everyone feels the warmth and joy of Christmas.
Why we do it?
As a charity, we work closely with residential care homes across Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf, supporting residents through a variety of meaningful activities.
Sadly, many people living in care homes don’t receive regular visits — something that can feel especially hard during the festive season. To help change that, one of our dedicated volunteers, Rhodri Poacher, came up with the idea for our annual Christmas Card Appeal.
The appeal offers a simple but powerful way for people to show they care. Each card, message, and kind word helps to lift spirits and remind residents that they are not forgotten.
According to neuroscientist
Dr Lynda Shaw, the positive emotions created by receiving cards — especially at Christmas — can have real benefits for wellbeing. She explains:
“I firmly believe that receiving cards increases self-esteem, helps to stave off feelings of loneliness and isolation, and even to ward off the early stages of depression.”
So this Christmas, why not take a few moments to write a card and help us spread some festive cheer?
Our third Christmas Card Appeal, launched on social media in November 2024, received an extraordinary response. Within just two weeks, our Facebook posts had been shared hundreds of times and reached more than 107,000 people.
Thanks to this amazing exposure, we were contacted by schools, clubs, and community groups all eager to get involved. The campaign’s reach extended far beyond our usual areas of Bridgend, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf - we received cards from across Wales, England, Spain, Japan, and even New Zealand. The appeal even caught international attention, featuring on news websites in Asia.
With such an outpouring of support, we reached out to additional care homes to see if they would like to receive cards - and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Some homes even asked if their own residents could write cards to send to others, which we were delighted to make happen.
When the final count took place on December 16th, we had received more than 5,100 cards in just five weeks - more than double the total from 2023. Cards arrived by post to our head office, by hand through our Cynon Linc post box, and in bulk deliveries from local teachers.
Our volunteers and staff then got to work sorting and delivering the cards to care homes across all three counties. The joy on residents’ faces said it all - we received countless photos and messages of thanks from homes where the cards helped make Christmas that little bit brighter.
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GET INVOLVED IN 2025
Supporting our campaign is easy. Just buy a Christmas card, write your personal message inside and send it to our Cynon Linc head office in Aberdare or take it to one of our three drop off points. Many people also like to write a little about themselves in the card, so please do so if you wish. The campaign will open on November 3rd and will close on December 5th, so our volunteers have time to distribute the cards to care homes.
We have four drop off points for our 2025 campaign.
Aberdare – Age Connects Morgannwg
Cynon Linc, Seymour Street, Aberdare, CF44 7BD. (9-5pm, Mon-Fri)
Bridgend – Halo Bridgend Life Centre
Angel St, Bridgend CF31 4AH. (9-5pm, Mon-Fri)
Merthyr - Gellideg Wellbeing Centre
Canol-Y-Bryn, Heol Tai Mawr, Gellideg, Merthyr Tydfil CF48 1ND (9am-4pm, Mon-Fri)
Pontyclun - Cafe 50
Heol Yr Orsaf, Pontyclun CF72 9EE (9am-3pm, Mon-Fri)
If you would like to support the campaign but don’t have time to write cards you can make a small donation here.
Send your cards to:
Christmas Card Appeal
Age Connects Morgannwg
Cynon Linc
Seymour Street
Aberdare CF44 7BD
