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Thank you for all your donations to this year’s Epping Forest Christmas Giving Campaign.
Your kind contributions have provided Christmas presents to over 100 local children.
The Epping Forest Christmas Giving Campaign 2023 raised funds and collected donated presents worth £2,000.
The gifts are given to families who have been identified by local schools and frontline children and family service providers as needing extra support over the festive period.
Partnership working
The campaign is organised by Voluntary Action Epping Forest (VAEF), Essex Police and Epping Forest District Council (EFDC). Staff and volunteers from each organisation joined forces to wrap and distribute gifts to local households.
Also giving their time to help wrap presents were team members from the NHS, Epping Forest Citizens Advice, Epping Forest Schools Partnership Trust, WECAN and EFDC councillors and community champions.
Charitable donations
Members of the public and staff and volunteers from several local community partnership organisations, including local Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose supermarkets donated gifts.
Grange Farm Trust donated £250 to the campaign. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service raised £450 from a car wash at Waltham Abbey Fire Station. Bikeworks generously donated 9 children’s bicycles.
Thank you
Chairman of Epping Forest District Council, Councillor Darshan Sunger said:
A big thank you to everyone who donated to this year’s Christmas Giving Campaign.
Your generosity has been overwhelming and shows the kindness and community spirit across the district which means more children will receive a present on Christmas Day.
I’d also like to say a huge thank you to staff and volunteers, who work so hard to organise and deliver all the gifts.
A worthy campaign
Councillor Smruti Patel, EFDC Cabinet Member for Community, Health and Wellbeing said:
This is such a worthy campaign and brings joy to so many families across the district. It shows how a community can come together to help others in need.
I was delighted to help wrap gifts and brought my daughter along as an extra pair of helping hands. With so many gifts to deliver, seeing how the staff from all partners work together to ensure all the families receive the correct presents was astonishing. Well done and thank you once again.
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