Caterina Recchia, the Granddaughter of a client at charity, Friends of the Elderly’s Malvern Day Care, has spent a long and creative 24-hours taking part in a live, TikTok Diamond Art Challenge to raise money for the day care service her Nan loves so much.
Malvern Day Care supports people who are living with dementia and a range of age-related conditions. Talking about her fundraising challenge, Caterina said: “I joined a group of women from all over the UK and participated in TikTok’s 24-hour live stream Diamond Art Challenge to raise as much money as possible for my Nan’s day care centre.
“I chose Malvern Day Care as my Nan, who is living with dementia, attends a few times a week and she absolutely loves it. Since going along each week, she has found a new lease of life. This has been wonderful to see given that so many other aspects of her life have declined over the past few years,” added Caterina.
The artistic 24-hours took part from 10 a.m. on Saturday 28th September until 10 a.m. on Sunday 29th September and was streamed live on the well-known social media platform. “With over 1.56 billion users worldwide, and being the fifth most popular social media platform, I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to reach as many people as possible to fundraise for Nan’s day care centre,” continued Caterina.
Diamond Art – or Diamond Painting – is a craft which produces glittering masterpieces. A blend of cross-stitch and paint by numbers, it uses resin ‘diamonds’ which are hand placed on to an adhesive coated canvas.
“Catrina is so talented. Her Diamond Art pieces are beautiful,” said Shirley Bradley, Friends of the Elderly’s Head of Day Care Services. “It was wonderful of Caterina to undertake such a long and time intensive fundraising activity for us. I logged on throughout the 24-hours to see how she was doing and send some words of encouragement – she absolutely smashed it. The piece – MYA – means Minimise Your Anxiety, it’s extraordinary. So much detail, it’s breathtaking.”
“Claire Marshall who is from a small UK Diamond Art business called Marshall Sparkles, designed the MYA painting as we wanted it to have meaning,” added Caterina. “As Diamond Art is an escape for so many people with both mental health and physical health problems, deciding to do MYA was the perfect fit.
“One of my Aunts is my Nan’s carer, and my Mum and other Aunt help out as much as possible,” continued Caterina. “Attending Malvern Day Care not only gives my Nan something to look forward to, but it also gives my family a much needed respite rest.
“Malvern Day Care, which is run by the charity, Friends of the Elderly, is a lifeline for the clients and their families who use the service, so I want to raise as much as I can for such a worthy cause. I have set a goal of £500 that will fund a new sturdy, weather resistant outdoor gazebo for the day care centre, which will give the clients the opportunity – and choice – to spend time outside when the weather is nice or even just to get some fresh air.
“A robust and durable gazebo will enable the clients, like my Nan, to enjoy a shady spot on sunny days, a shelter on rainy days and all in all, give them access to the outdoors all year round,” continued Caterina.
“Even though the TikTok Challenged is over, my JustGiving page is still open. Anything anyone can spare as a donation would be extremely appreciated. I want to do anything I can to help Malvern Day Care, both for my Nan and the current clients and for those who will use the service in the future,” concluded Caterina.
If you’d like to donate to Caterina’s JustGiving page, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/24hour-diamondart?utm_term=DxP2NPRVX
