Last year, in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council’s Adult Care Services team, we sourced, packed and distributed over 4,000 gift bags across the county.

Having worked together with Hertfordshire County Council for nearly five years, our partnership continues to flourish and strengthen, enabling us to reach even more vulnerable people, who are in need of support.

Our Bags of Kindness project, funded by Hertfordshire County Council, has been a huge success since its conception in 2020. It is now our fifth year delivering this project, and we are extremely proud to have once again reached 2,500 residents, identified by community and voluntary sector partners. These include people who are older, living with disabilities, recently bereaved, lonely, living with mental health problems, carers or are clinically vulnerable.

We were delighted to welcome Angie Ridgwell, Chief Executive of Hertfordshire County Council, Richard Roberts, Leader of the Council, County Councillor, Tony Kingsbury, along with members of Adult Care Services and the Communications team, who kindly joined us to help to pack Bags of Kindness.  

Richard Roberts commented, ‘Small Acts of Kindness really are a great partner to help us look after our residents this winter and I’m really pleased that we are once again able to fund the bags going out to residents this Christmas. It’s important for us to do what we can to help people live independent lives and feel looked after.  We want residents to know we’re with them this winter, and this fantastic scheme is part of that.’

The gift bags contained treats and practical items, including biscuits, hot chocolate, blankets, gripper socks, a card thermometer, as well as a comprehensive pack of information, signposting residents to support, services and advice.

In addition to Bags of Kindness, we supported three Hertfordshire County Council events; Slipper Swaps and CareFest, organised by Hertfordshire Libraries and the Older Persons Activity Learning and Safety (OPALS) event.

Primarily focusing on prevention, sharing information and advice about how to keep safe and well, reducing isolation, and signposting people to the wealth of services available throughout the county, we are delighted to be able to support these wonderful initiatives.

During 2024 we provided over 1,000 Warm in Winter gift bags for the OPALS events, which for the first time, were kindly part-funded by Hertfordshire County Council.

Terry Morris, OPALS Event Co-Ordinator, Hertfordshire County Council, told us about the value that our gift bags added to each event,  ‘The gift bags provided by Small Acts of Kindness are a major contributor to our events. The look of surprise and thanks we get in handing out the gift bags always pleases me and makes everything worthwhile. I am delighted that Hertfordshire County Council Adult Care Services have recognised the importance of the Warm in Winter gift bags by providing appropriate funding and support to Small Acts of Kindness for this great initiative.’

Hertfordshire Library Service organise the very successful Slipper Swaps, where older residents can pick up a pair of free slippers and learn about the importance of falls prevention. They also hosted CareFest 24, which offered information from health checks and mental health support, to food sampling and demonstration of mobility aids.

Chris Perera, Social Care Information Librarian told us, ‘The Warm in Winter gift bags are extremely well received by participants, who are often genuinely overwhelmed by this act of generosity.’

We look forward to continuing to partner with, and to support Hertfordshire County Council’s work, to keep residents safe and well, connecting communities and making people feel cared for, one small act of kindness at a time.