Local business donates presents to families at Children’s Centre
Wednesday, 28 December 2022
A small business based in Silsoe has donated 29 Christmas presents to a Central Bedfordshire Council run children’s centre.
Nicola, who runs Ultimate Skin, contacted Flitwick Children’s Centre to ask how she could support vulnerable children and families this Christmas. The centre spoke to the children they work with and provided Nicola with a list of their ages and a gift they would like to the value of £10.
Nicola then created a ‘giving tree’ so customers could choose a present to buy for a child and donate the money for the present for Nicola to buy.
Nicola said:
As a small business owner, this year I wanted to find a local charity to support. After watching endless news reports regarding the ‘cost of living’ crisis and with Christmas around the corner, I decided I wanted to put smiles on vulnerable children’s faces by donating Christmas presents to them. That’s when I contacted Justine from Flitwick Children’s Centre, who helped me get the ball rolling. With the generosity of my clients and residents in Silsoe, we managed to collect 29 presents to give to the children to open on Christmas Day.
Justine O’Driscoll, manager of Flitwick Children’s Centre, said:
The kind generosity of Nicola’s clients and residents in the local community has helped hugely and meant that we are able to support those children and families most in need which is incredible. We really do appreciate all the kind donations.
Councillor Sue Clark, Executive Member for Families, Education and Children, said:
We’re extremely grateful to Nicola and her customers for their support this Christmas, which will make a difference to children in our area.
Central Bedfordshire Council has nine children’s centres across Central Bedfordshire, who support around 4,7000 families.
Councillor Clark continued:
We know this Christmas, families may be finding it difficult as the cost of living rises, so we have put in place a variety of support. This month we launched a £45,000 Crisis Fund which will be administered through our children’s centres, with vouchers available to primarily cover household bills and payments and support available to help families in emergency situations.
We have set up a dedicated information hub on our website for anyone concerned about the cost of living. This includes information about funding for vulnerable residents to help with food, energy and water bills and other wider essentials and a network of warm spaces across Central Bedfordshire for people to use when the temperatures drop.