Lighting up the season: TEC Construction brings Christmas cheer to Turnchapel

Pupils from Key Stage 2 at Hooe Primary Academy made the trip to the hospice, to help bring some Christmas cheer to the evening. For many of the children, it was the first time coming to a hospice, which can often be a daunting prospect.

Mr Sullivan, Key Stage 2 Lead at Hooe Primary Academy, said: “Speaking to the children around things that happen not just on a global scale but also on a local scale – I think sometimes the things that are a little bit closer to home can get missed. We talk about lots of global issues but actually having this as an opportunity to come up and visit some people who unfortunately are going to pass away at some point.

“It’s important for the children to have an experience of that and I think to do it in an age-appropriate way that’s not scary for them and not something that’s going to make them feel upset or uncomfortable or worried is really important as well, reducing that taboo and letting them know that actually it’s okay to come to somewhere like this and it’s not somewhere you have to be scared of. It’s quite a warm pleasant place to come and giving them that positive relationship, may put a positive idea in their head that it’s not somewhere they need to be fearful about.

“To be able to bring a little bit of Christmas cheer is really important to us, but also to the children to understand that not everyone is as fortunate as them and to just bring that little bit of a smile to a few people’s faces.”