Christmas toy appeal
CHARITIES have asked people to dig deep to help unfortunate children both at home and abroad this Christmas.
A Rochdale-based homelessness charity have launched their project to provide those children, who may not otherwise receive anything, with gifts.
For the third year running, Petrus Community, in partnership with Rochdale Social Services, has adorned the Christmas tree in its community store with the names, and ages, of children who are unlikely to receive a Christmas gift this year.
The charity is now asking members of the public to take on the role of Santa Claus and help make sure that these children don’t miss out on opening a gift come Christmas morning.
Members of the public are invited to take a tag from the tree and buy a child a gift, for between £5 and £10, and deliver it to the store.
Alternatively, Petrus are also accepting cash donations and will use the money to purchase presents on the public’s behalf.
Anyone making donations is asked to bring the presents unwrapped. However, people can provide wrapping paper if they wish.
Pam Barrett, Petrus Community Store manager, said: “While Christmas is a time of gift giving and cheer for many of us, it also a very difficult time for those less fortunate.
“Last year, thanks to generous support of the Rochdale community and afar, we were able to provide 190 children with a gift on Christmas morning. We look forward to your support again this year.”
The deadline for the appeal is 18 December.
Meanwhile, Smithybridge Library have asked members of the public to once again fill an empty shoebox with small items - things like toiletries, gloves, a scarf, wrapped sweets, a small toy or crayons - that can be sent to children in war-torn countries across the world.
The box would need to be wrapped in Christmas paper and delivered to Smithybridge Library, while it is open, on Smithy Bridge Road in Littleborough.
The boxes will need to be labelled according to whether they contents are suitable for a boy or a girl and for a particular age group. The shoeboxes will be collected from the library on Thursday November, 29.
Last year, 116 boxes were sent and organisers hope that they can beat the total this year.