Pippa Cramer, MBEWe are delighted that Pippa Cramer MBE is an ambassador for Embracing Age. We asked Pippa to share some of her story:
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Tell us a bit about yourself
I am an Occupational Therapist by background, I worked for many years in the NHS, specialising in Neurorehabilitation and Care of the Elderly. I love people, all people, but older people have a very special place in my heart. I am Pastoral Care and Seniors Minister at Holy Trinity Church in Claygate, and have been running ‘Connections’, one of the largest church-based groups for seniors in the UK since 2011.
I am passionate about loving and caring for older people, reducing loneliness and isolation, and my heart’s desire is for all seniors to be given the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus and discover God’s amazing grace and love. After much prayer, we came up with the idea of using well-loved hymns as a way of sharing the gospel in a gentle and accessible way with seniors, and ‘Hymns We Love’ was developed and used extremely effectively from within ‘Connections’ at Holy Trinity Claygate. This has now been produced by The Good Book Company and is available to use in all sorts of different settings.
At the onset of the Pandemic in 2020, I was involved in setting up the ‘Daily Hope’ free phone line, alongside the Church of England and charity, Faith in Later Life, with the aim of reaching the hundreds of thousands of older people who were now so isolated, having to shield at home. In less than a year, the ‘Daily Hope’ received more than 400,000 calls and has proved to be a lifeline to so many who were unable to access online material. Wonderfully, in recognition of this, and the work locally I and my team did for our older friends during the Pandemic, I was awarded the Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness in 2021 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and I was also made an MBE in the New Years Honours list in 2022 for services to older and vulnerable people.
What motivates you to be an Ambassador for Embracing Age?
I am delighted to have been asked to become an ambassador for Embracing Age! It is such a fantastic charity, and I’m thrilled to spread the word and promote the wonderful work Embracing Age does, especially around care homes, and supporting unpaid carers too. I just LOVE Embracing Age’s strapline … ‘Embracing Age is a Christian charity working towards a world where older people are valued, connected and full of hope, by combatting loneliness, mobilising volunteers, equipping churches and speaking out’
What do you know now about living a happy and fulfilled life that you didn’t know when you were 20 years old?
I think I realise now that actually, it’s ok to just be ‘me’ .. God loves to use us as we are, we just need to be available for him to use us and work through us. I would tell my 20-year-old self to chill out … God doesn’t need us to be perfect, or like anyone else .. He loves us as we are, and just wants us to be willing for him to work through us and to be his ambassadors.
I am an Occupational Therapist by background, I worked for many years in the NHS, specialising in Neurorehabilitation and Care of the Elderly. I love people, all people, but older people have a very special place in my heart. I am Pastoral Care and Seniors Minister at Holy Trinity Church in Claygate, and have been running ‘Connections’, one of the largest church-based groups for seniors in the UK since 2011.
I am passionate about loving and caring for older people, reducing loneliness and isolation, and my heart’s desire is for all seniors to be given the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus and discover God’s amazing grace and love. After much prayer, we came up with the idea of using well-loved hymns as a way of sharing the gospel in a gentle and accessible way with seniors, and ‘Hymns We Love’ was developed and used extremely effectively from within ‘Connections’ at Holy Trinity Claygate. This has now been produced by The Good Book Company and is available to use in all sorts of different settings.
At the onset of the Pandemic in 2020, I was involved in setting up the ‘Daily Hope’ free phone line, alongside the Church of England and charity, Faith in Later Life, with the aim of reaching the hundreds of thousands of older people who were now so isolated, having to shield at home. In less than a year, the ‘Daily Hope’ received more than 400,000 calls and has proved to be a lifeline to so many who were unable to access online material. Wonderfully, in recognition of this, and the work locally I and my team did for our older friends during the Pandemic, I was awarded the Alphege Award for Evangelism and Witness in 2021 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and I was also made an MBE in the New Years Honours list in 2022 for services to older and vulnerable people.
What motivates you to be an Ambassador for Embracing Age?
I am delighted to have been asked to become an ambassador for Embracing Age! It is such a fantastic charity, and I’m thrilled to spread the word and promote the wonderful work Embracing Age does, especially around care homes, and supporting unpaid carers too. I just LOVE Embracing Age’s strapline … ‘Embracing Age is a Christian charity working towards a world where older people are valued, connected and full of hope, by combatting loneliness, mobilising volunteers, equipping churches and speaking out’
What do you know now about living a happy and fulfilled life that you didn’t know when you were 20 years old?
I think I realise now that actually, it’s ok to just be ‘me’ .. God loves to use us as we are, we just need to be available for him to use us and work through us. I would tell my 20-year-old self to chill out … God doesn’t need us to be perfect, or like anyone else .. He loves us as we are, and just wants us to be willing for him to work through us and to be his ambassadors.
