Gifts for older people who don’t want stuff

[Ladybird37]

What to get for men and women who do f want ‘stuff’, no to food/drink/smellies, have loads of photos, clothes etc, don’t like theatre/meals out/spa. Tearing my hair out but have no idea this year and want to buy something nice because we love them :)

A hamper of really nice foods - either a DIY one or something like a Fortnum and Mason one?

Nice bunch of flowers?

Sorry I see you said no to food and drink. When I read that I was thinking you meant no to restaurant vouchers, afternoon teas etc but after reading again I think I misinterpreted!

But we all have to eat and drink - can I just ask why the ban on food/drink as gifts?

Do they have a garden - a plant either for indoors or outdoors? Garden centres do some lovely Christmas arrangements.

How old are you talking? I've got dvds of shows I think older relatives would like from streaming services like netflix they won't/can't without upgrading their tv use, such as Chernobyl or The Crown.

How about a calendar made from one of those photo sites with pics of the family - you get multiple pictures for the space of one, plus it's useful

Kindle?

1. Scrap doing gifts
2. Flowers. Scilly flowers have tended to go down well, even with flower haters
3. Posh hand cut cards from Etsy with no gift
4. DVDs

Thanks, maybe a hamper is the way to go and some plants for the garden. Think the food thing is diet driven, I’ll have to do some digging to maybe find some acceptably healthy treats :) yes to family calendar too.

My parents like magazine subscriptions

Respect their wishes and get them nothing?
I always say nothing and it annoys the hell out of me when people get me stuff. I can afford to get anything I need.

How old is old?

DVDs surely no-one owns a DVD anymore? My parents are in their 80s and have access to everything online through the TV?

A hamper is terrible. You then get multiple unwanted items and you cant send them to the charity shop.

I'm getting an elderly female relative a voucher to get her oven cleaned after xmas , as she was complaining how she hates cleaning her hardly ever used oven, ..think she will like the whole having someone to boss about too.. my thoughts are its useful, its something she can use at leisure and something she hates doing, i prevously got a man to tidy up her garden do the heavy pruning removes leaves, and she seemed happy with that as she loves gardening but she cant do it in winter as she has health issues,
though she will probably complain it was a waste of money as apparently all gifts we have ever given her are,

Fortnum and mason hampers are excellent
I know you can make your own but F&M really look good

I buy my parents a weekly entry into a locally based charity raffle. Have done a hospice, now do air ambulance. Parents are happy as they don't get any "things" and are contributing to a good cause. They won, I think, £500 with the hospice, with which they bought a new TV, and £100 with the air ambulance.

Audible gift vouchers they were my favourite gift last year tbh.

My ancient parents (mid-90's!) really don't want anything but would be quick to complain if didn't get anything, so:
County magazine subscription
'Posh' ready meals that can be frozen/heated in microwave
Electric heat pad or rechargeable hot water bottle
Lap blanket

• all recent presents that seem to have been gratefully received.

Garden tokens for nearby nurseries? I don’t want or need presents, but I love going and buying more plants!

Coffee shop vouchers?

National trust or English Heritage membership or other local museum / attraction.

If relevant something to learn to make something? I've bought someone a pottery-painting voucher and am dropping hints to DH about a cookery course I'd like to do.

You can get memory books from the 30s, 40s,50s, 60s those have gone down well. I think they were called "The 50s Scrapbook" insert decade as necessary!

A nice blanket or throw has been well received too.

DVDs surely no-one owns a DVD anymore?

Well DH and I are in our 40s, and we don't watch enough TV to justify paying for Prime/Netflix/Sky/whatever so we watch the iplayer etc but also get DVDs. My family live very rurally and have only this year got good enough broadband for streaming services so they also have DVDs.

Well I am an older person and when asked what I would like for Christmas/Birthday I say a book token or a gift card for my local coffee shop. Failing that, flowers are always acceptable.

My mum owns a DVD player. She can't be bothered with Netflix etc which she views as complicated but she has a large collection of DVDs she still likes playing. Suggestion of Chernobyl on DVD would be brilliant for her.

And DH and I are in our 40s and still on Freeview only! We watch iPlayer, download a bit of stuff off Youtube and that's it. Anything else if we really really want to watch it, it'll be the DVD Boxset.

We don't watch that much and like a PP, our rural broadband isn't good enough for streaming.

Flowers, ideally a potted plant
Books or book tokens or audio CDs, audible subscription

Not ancient-old myself, but have recently acquired a heated throw and it's my new fave thing in the whole wide world.
Big and soft and light-weight, machine washable, toasty-warm and costs same as a light-bulb to run.
Keeps me cosy on the sofa watching TV or reading without heating the entire house.
Mine came from Argos, J Lewis do them, also Lakeland.

www.argos.co.uk/product/7074572

We have this problem with DH parents every year (in their 80's, have everything they need/want etc). So after asking last year what they would like and got the usual 'nothing' reply, I suggested donating some money to a charity of their choice. Suddenly they decided a garden centre voucher would be nice and they got a small water feature for their garden.
Will try with the charity idea again this year when they say 'oh, don't worry about us , we don't need anything '

A night away somewhere? My parents dont want or need anything so I've booked them in a central b n b in Whitby via Booking.com for next spring

Re the Fortnum and Mason Hamper mentioned by a PP, I actually don't recommend their hampers. Yes, they look great and are beautifully presented, but my DH bought one last year as a treat and quite honestly we hardly used any of the itemsin it. The bottles of wine and champagne are stlll around somewhere as not to our taste and the tins of weird flavoured biscuits I sold on E-Bay! Unless the contents are completely to your taste, I would not bother. I think it's more fund to make your own hamper up anyway, as you can put things in it you know the recipient will actually eat/drink!