Christmas spirit alive and well as kind-hearted friends and supporters rally round.
We acknowledge with huge gratitude every single food and money donation dropped off by so many generous people and organisations in December. Here is a snapshot of some of the month’s donations…
★ Instead of getting birthday presents Teddy, 9 this year, asked his friends to bring donations for the Food Hub which he delivered to us with mum Kristine on 2nd December.
Teddy said: “Together, we collected a whole car boot full of food and other things. I already have enough toys and I wanted to do something for families who might need extra help. Helping people makes me happy, and I did the same thing for my 7th birthday. It feels good to know we tried to make a difference.”
★ On 7th December Kirsten delivered items from 14th Coulsdon Brownies and Guides. She told us the girls had again chosen the Food Hub over other charities for their Christmas collection.
★ Harris Academy Purley delivered their Christmas collection on Wednesday 11th December, and our volunteers Graham, Phil and Darren collected donations (pictured) from Riddlesdown Collegiate, Purley, the boxes covering almost the entire library floor.
Mr Daniels, Deputy Head College VI, said: “I would like to give special thanks to everyone who donated items, all tutors, students and in particular College VI who played an imperative role in bringing this act of generosity to fruition.”
★ Cantilena Singers asked people attending their Christmas Concert at All Saints, Sanderstead, on the 12th to bring contributions for the Food Hub.
Chris kindly delivered these to us on Saturday 14th, welcomed by volunteers Maureen (left) and Catherine.
★ On the same morning, Raj (pictured left with volunteer Eddie) brought a big car-load of food and other items. He told us he had held a memorial service for his dad and asked people to make donations to the Food Hub, raising £400 to buy the items.
★ And later Liz, Matt and Charlie from 19th Purley Scout Group, delivered three Santa sackfuls containing 97 Christmas selection boxes – beating the 85 they collected in 2023!
Liz said: “We love delivering our donations to you – your work inspires me and the families I bring along every time. We hope your clients’ families enjoy their treats. 97 was an amazing amount, and now that’s our total to beat next year!”
★ Oasis Academy Coulsdon collected food as part of their Christmas Miracles scheme.
Oasis Year 10 Family Leader Ryan explained: “This festive season Year 10 students have truly embraced the spirit of giving, coming together to organise a heartwarming series of charity events that have made a real difference in our local community.” Money raised was used to buy new books for local primary schools and to support Crisis and East Surrey Hospital.
★ On Wednesday 18th Chantel came from Alive City Church, Purley, to present a cheque for £505 to our administrator Jean (right). Chantel told us: “I lead community outreach on behalf of Alive City Church and in the past we’ve organised food donations for a charity in central Croydon. This year God laid it on my heart that the church needs to reach out to the local community of Purley. The team and I were extremely pleased to raise funds to support you and we look forward to doing more work to help support you in the future.”
★ Ernest, son of Food Hub Trustee Annabel and fellow volunteer driver James, hosts one of the Food Hub’s yellow collection bins at his school, Whitgift in South Croydon, and on Saturday 21st his sister Winifred delivered a binful of items brought to school by the students.
★ Each year Tom and his family put on a Christmas lights display at their home in Sanderstead. Usually they ask people who come to see the lights to bring money for charity. This year they asked for food and other items for the Food Hub, which they delivered to us on the 21st. Tom is pictured with his wife Rachel and their children Jessica and Harry.
★ The same morning Samar brought more than 50 packs of toiletries and other essentials from The Kenley Ladies. She said: “The Kenley Ladies is a casual WhatsApp group of neighbours. In 2021, my three kids (10, 8 and 6 at the time) and I decided to make some packs of toiletries and donated them to Food Stop at Christmas, just to remind them the season is about giving more than receiving!
“In 2022 I asked if any of my neighbours wanted to join and since then we have been raising between £400-£600 from about 10 families, doing a large Costco run and then packing into bags together, ready for the Food Hub. Usually our children do the packing while we supervise!”
★ Also on the 21st, Maria and Daniella delivered £700 worth of food, explaining: “We started doing a collection five or six years ago, it was very small and just got friends and family to donate and I think the first year we got between £200-£300.
“Last year and this year we put together a JustGiving page and got people involved from where we both work – we send it out on Facebook and Instagram (I lived in Purley near the Food Hub and have seen how many people have used it).
“We put the JustGiving page up in October and started sending out at work.
“Daniella brought it up at her team day this year and not only got massive money donations but also donations of food and selection boxes. In my company a lot of staff from all over the world also donated; some people from our office in Saudi and Vietnam sent in donations to help with the South London Foodbank.
“We did a shop the Saturday before Christmas, using the list you send out of essentials. We split the shopping up between essentials and treats to make Christmas a little nicer for the kids. We are so happy this has helped out and hope we can continue to help with our Christmas collection each year.”
★ We have been pleased to welcome more and more children bringing in donations with their mums and dads. Francis and Grace, who came with dad Andrew, each carried a bag of donations, all direct from our December food list. Pictured are Grandad, Grandma and Grandson Legg who delivered several bags of donations on 21st December. The same morning our youngest supporter came in with her dad – unfortunately we didn’t capture their names!
★ Katie from Montpelier Church, South Croydon, told us how she made an advent calendar for her daughters Sophia, 9, and Lexi, 5: “In the photos, ‘One for Me’ means it was something for my girls and ‘One for You’ means it was something for the Food Hub, and Sophia and Lexi took it in turns to open them. They absolutely loved knowing that others would also be receiving whilst they did.”
★ During December the recorded donations of food, toiletries, household essentials and money that we received from supporters included the following:
14th Coulsdon Brownies & Guides; 19th Purley Scout Group; Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, Selsdon; Cantilena Singers; Catholic Women’s Group, St John the Baptist Church, Purley; Computershare, Croydon; Croydon Land Registry; HNV Book Club; Infohealth Pharmacies, Coulsdon; Kenley Ladies Group; Move Revolution, Croydon; Sky Engineers.
COLLECTION POINTS/YELLOW BINS
Bankside, South Croydon; Cumberlands, Kenley; East Coulsdon Residents’ Association, Mead Way; Heathhurst Road, Sanderstead; Kendall Avenue South, Sanderstead; Selsdon Road, South Croydon.
CHURCHES
Alive City Church, Purley; Christ Church, Purley; Coulsdon Methodist; Croham Road Baptist, South Croydon; Croydon Gurdwara; Emmanuel, South Croydon; Grace Vineyard, Purley; Montpelier, South Croydon; Purley Baptist; Purley United Reformed; Sanderstead Methodist; St Aidan’s, Coulsdon; St Gertrude’s, South Croydon; St James, Riddlesdown; St John the Baptist, Purley; St John’s, Old Coulsdon; St Margaret of Scotland, Carshalton Beeches; St Mark’s, Woodcote; St Paul’s United Reformed, South Croydon; St Peter’s, South Croydon; St Swithun’s, Purley; The Way Ministries, Mitcham; Woodmansterne Baptist.
INDIVIDUALS/FAMILIES
Alma; Bill & Lisa; Francis, Grace and dad Andrew; Dympna; Elizabeth; Gareth; Glorie & Edwin; Ian & Meryl; Jenny & Martin; Jessica, Harry, mum Rachel and dad Tom; Jordan; Karen; Legg family; Margaret; Maria & Daniella; Mark & Stella; Martin & Eleanor; Mortimer; Nalyni & Saieshwar; Natalie; Nathan; Olusegun; Quentin; Rachel; Raj; Richard; Sophia, Lexi and mum Katie; Tariq; Teddy; Zeeda.
SCHOOLS
Atwood Primary, Sanderstead; Harris Academy Purley; Oasis Academy Coulsdon; Riddlesdown Collegiate, Purley; Ridgeway Primary PTCA, South Croydon; Whitgift School, South Croydon.
STORES
Morrisons, Caterham; Morrisons, Fiveways, Croydon; Sainsbury’s Local, Purley; Sainsbury’s, Warlingham; Waitrose, Sanderstead.
Many other donations were received from supporters who preferred to be anonymous and so were unrecorded.
