Granddaughter of Malvern Day Care Client Takes Part In 24-Hour Diamond Art Challenge

CATERINA Recchia, the Granddaughter of a client at the 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 daycare 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 daycare 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.”

The artistic 24-hours took part from 10am on Saturday 28^th September until 10am on Sunday 29^th September and was streamed live on the well-known social media platform.

Caterina continued:

“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 daycare centre.”

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 onto an adhesive-coated canvas.

Shirley Bradley, Friends of the Elderly’s Head of Day Care Services said:

“Catrina is so talented. Her Diamond Art pieces are beautiful. 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 sent some words of encouragement – she absolutely smashed it. The piece – MYA – means Minimise Your Anxiety, it’s extraordinary. So much detail, it’s breathtaking.”

Caterina added:

“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. 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. 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 daycare 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.

“Even though the TikTok Challenge 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.”