PennyAppeal News

For many people, winter can be a lonely season. With shorter days, longer evenings and freezing weather, many of us find ourselves spending more time indoors on our own and the new COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown measures have only made this winter all the more difficult for those of us struggling with loneliness

December has come and gone and January has brought with it an eagerly anticipated start to the new year, but the chill of winter is still in the air and some of us here in the UK have even experienced a few snow days so far.

Penny Appeal’s best loved dates are finally back on the shelves and available to you once more. Our Medjoul dates are sweet, juicy and delicious, grown with love by hard-working Palestinian farmers in the pastures of Jericho along the West Bank of Palestine.

In England, 45% of adults have reported having feelings of loneliness - that’s 25 million people – and throughout the rest of the UK many more have felt the effects of being lonely too.

Over the winter months – when the weather is colder and there’s little to do but stay warm at home – many of us can feel cooped up. However, the past 12 months have presented a separate challenge: the COVID-19 pandemic.

'Home is not home when you’re displaced’ – that’s the reality for millions of people around the world, home is simply not home when life becomes challenging – and while the ‘weather outside is frightful’, so is life as a refugee.

Winter can be a beautiful season with picturesque snowy scenes, icy outdoor activities and quality time spent inside warming up with our loved ones. But winter can also be dangerous if we’re not prepared.

Throughout the UK, 2.4 million adults between the ages of 16 to 74 experienced domestic abuse in the last year. Since then, there has been a surge in domestic violence due to coronavirus lockdown measures and isolation. The UK has seen a 33% rise in reports of domestic abuse since the start of lockdown restrictions in March 2020.

With the coronavirus pandemic making a resurgence in the UK, as well as other countries around the world, this winter will be a difficult one for all of us.

As cases of COVID-19 surge throughout the UK, we’re all doing what we can to control the spread of the virus. The NHS want us all to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic, and to remember – Hands. Face. Space: wash your hands regularly for 20 seconds, wear a face covering in indoor settings where social distancing may be difficult or around people you don’t normally have contact with, and stay 2 metres apart from people that you don’t live with you where possible.

In the UK, an estimated 9.6 million people have been furloughed due to the coronavirus, while around 1.5 million people are now unemployed. Many families throughout the UK have had to tighten their budgets to live on just 80% of their usual income, and do their very best to continue to provide to for themselves and their children.

Penny Appeal is proud of its work supporting the education of thousands of children in Africa. Find out more about our work here.