Family Action has made a difference to West Cumbrian children’s lives at Christmas thanks to the generosity of the local community.
Family Action has worked with Copeland and Allerdale councils to make sure every local child wakes up with a gift on Christmas day.
Kerry Jewell, of Family Action, said: “We are overwhelmed with the contribution of gifts and toys from the community. The gifts donated will make a huge difference to children who would have received very little or nothing at all on Christmas morning.
“This support is not about a quick fix at Christmas, it’s about finding out what issues families are facing and offering help or referring them to relevant agencies, to make sure they get the support they need.”
Sellafield Ltd has granted funding to Family Action to support 50 families in Copeland and Allerdale with gift vouchers for Christmas, as well as supporting 100 families with vegetable hampers and meat vouchers, so that they have fresh food for the Christmas period.
Mitie has provided lots of support through providing the boxes at all the collection points and delivering the donations to Family Action.
Collections have also taken place at Mitie, Morgan Sindall, BEPDT, Arup, KAEFER, Costain, Cavendish Nuclear, Orano Group, Capgemini and Atkins Global, Network Rail as well as Copeland and Allerdale councils, the Bus Station in Whitehaven and supermarkets.
A further grant has been made to West Cumbria Community Action Trust for its Winter Support project. This will provide an essential food hamper and Christmas lunch for 30 people and a winter falls prevention hamper for 100 elderly people in our community.
The Sellafield Apprentice Council has also been supporting the elderly through the Age UK Shoebox Appeal, collecting 100 boxes made up of puzzles, novels, hats, scarfs, soaps, toiletries and confectionary.
Ellie Dalton, of the Apprentice Council, said “The Apprentice Council is overwhelmed by the workforce’s kind donations, especially due to the fact that so many are still working from home.
“We would like to thank everyone for all of their donations, small or large. We hope that this is just the start of this year’s council’s positive contribution to the wider society and we hope that everyone can get on board with what we have in store for 2022.”
