Festive giving from businesses in Yorkshire
Christmas is a time of giving and businesses across Yorkshire have been doing their bit to bring joy and support the communities around them.
Certainly local families in Kirklington had a smile on their face when they had an unusual visit from Santa on Thursday, as he visited the village in an ice cream van, handing out hot Christmas dinners in a Yorkshire Pudding cone. The visit was dreamed up by Bedale based banger company, HECK!
“We wanted to put a smile on everyones faces – it’s not quite the weather for ice cream, but delicious sausages, home-made mash, peas and gravy certainly did the trick” explained co-founder Debbie Keeble.
Santas ice cream van visited people on the village green, attracting lots of attention. Claire Proctor, who was walking with her grandchildren said “it was a nice surprise & a bit of fun! We are trying to get outside as much as possible at the moment, so it was a welcome tasty treat.”
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Local home builder, Barratt Developments Yorkshire West is continuing to support the communities in which it builds by donating £5,000 to three charities in Yorkshire this Christmas.
Candlelighters and national homelessness charity Crisis have received £2,000 respectively and Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank has received £1,000 in an attempt to spread some festive joy and give the charities a well-deserved boost ahead of the holiday season.
Candlelighters, based in Leeds, supports children and their families who are affected by childhood cancer in Yorkshire. The charity, which is Barratt Developments Yorkshire West’s charity of the year, supports families in a variety of different ways including offering holidays, providing home from home accommodation for families when children are staying on the children’s oncology ward, and providing support and wellbeing services at its very own support centre.
Crisis is the national charity for people experiencing homelessness. Crisis provides support both at Christmas and all year-round to help people who are facing homelessness from its 11 centres across Great Britain, including one in South Yorkshire.
Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank is a small registered charity run by volunteers, which receives donations of non-perishable foods from the local community and businesses, to give free of charge to organisations working with vulnerable people in need of food.
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Dronfield-based financial planners, Belmayne, have helped make winter a little less bleak for those who sleep on the streets in Chesterfield, thanks to the generosity of local residents.
The independent advisers have delivered clothing, sleeping bags, food and toiletries to Pathways of Chesterfield, after acting as a collection point throughout December.
Belmayne partner, Jon Stevens, coordinated the appeal. He said: “We have had an amazing response from the local community and I can’t thank everyone enough for their kind donations to this very worthy cause. Pathways is somewhere the homeless and those at risk of homelessness can go for practical help and support. The supplies we have delivered this week will go some way to ensuring it can continue this good work throughout the difficult Christmas period.”
In total, Belmayne collected around a dozen sleeping bags and various items of warm clothing, plus a large box of food, snacks and toiletries.
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Huddersfield-headquartered construction company Big Red made a donation to the St. Cross food bank at the Beacon Centre in Clayton, Manchester, heading out in the morning for a ‘Big Shop’ before taking it over to volunteers at the centre.
After a difficult year for many, foodbanks provide a vital service, during the festive period in particular. The St. Cross foodbank opened in May 2017 – what started a small venture with 10-15 families using its services per week is now much larger, and it feeds over 30 households in need every week. In August of this year, the foodbank temporarily paused its services in anticipation of its move to The Beacon Centre.
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Lost City Adventure Golf, based in St Stephens Shopping Centre in Hull, is set to donate £1 from each sale of its special Christmas cocktail menu to the nationwide Cash for Kids Mission Christmas campaign.
The money raised by Lost City will go towards buying presents for those who may otherwise go without this Christmas.
Lost City’s selection of special Christmas cocktails include citrusy ‘The Grinch’ – Absolut Citron and apple juice – and the creamy ‘Minter Wonderland’ – white chocolate Mozart and Crème de Menthe. For those who prefer to sip on a non-alcoholic option, Lost City also offers a ‘Rudolph’s Kiss’ mocktail, with pineapple juice and grenadine.
Lane Scott, director of Lost City Adventure Golf, said: “It’s so important to think of others, especially at this time of year. By donating £1 from each cocktail sale, we will be helping local families affected by poverty, crisis, illness or those who have additional needs.”
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Pepperells Solicitors, which has offices in East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North East has embarked on a Christmas mission to provide festive food parcels for local families living in food poverty.
This year’s Christmas dinner project, now in its third year, has provided over 300 meals for local families.
Working in partnership with churches and food banks to provide a festive meal for families that would otherwise go without. Many of the families who receive the meals do not have presents under the tree and for them Christmas is just another day.
The Covid-19 crisis has pushed many families into food poverty, some not being able to afford their weekly needs and with family budgets at an all-time low, Pepperells embarked on the Christmas Dinner Project to help.
The dinner packs include everything needed to prepare a delicious meal for the family table on Christmas Day. Fresh meat, the usual trimmings, cranberry sauce, Christmas puddings and more. Pepperells food partner, Morrisons, pick pack and deliver the dinners ready for local churches and food banks to distribute the meals directly to the families that are most in need.
