Store support for festive gift appeal
Backing from Morrisons
The team at Morrisons superstore in Stirling have pledged their support to the Stirling Observer Give A Gift Appeal.
Locals will be able to drop their gifts off within the store, or even pick up toys and gifts to donate while doing their shopping.
Manager Gary McEwan said: “We are really on board with this. There can’t be any better feeling on Christmas morning than knowing that somewhere there is a child who is opening a present they might not otherwise have had because you have taken the time to donate.
“We are very passionate about supporting charities and good causes and supporting the Give A Gift Appeal seemed like an ideal opportunity to help a whole host of charities.
“I will be asking my team to make their own donations and we hope our customers will appreciate the chance to make their own contribution.”
Stirling Observer reporter Kaiya Marjoribanks said: “To have Morrisons on board is amazing and we
DROP-OFF POINTS:
really hope it proves to make it even easier to donate to the appeal.
“The store currently have a three-for-two offer on many gifts and toys and if people were even to gift their third item to the appeal it would be a huge boost. Hopefully being able to buy and donate at the same time will encourage even more people to support Give A Gift.
“The level of donations we receive has grown hugely over the last 10 years, which has enabled us to support more and more local charities and good causes. However, the need for the gifts has also risen over that time and we are eternally grateful to our readers and supporters for helping us to meet that growing demand year after year.
“The charities have rightly come to rely on the donations, which frees up their own resources for their other good works, and it would be devastating for them to be disappointed.”
The appeal receives and distributes donations of toys and gifts for sick, disabled, needy and disadvantaged children and young people from babies to teenagers - at Christmas.
Among the charities and good causes which help to distribute the gifts donated every year are Home-Start Stirling which supports families with young children going through difficult times; Stirling Women’s Aid; Stirling Council social services; PLUS, the local organisation which provides social opportunities for children and young people with disabilities; Cornton Vale and Glenochil Family Support Hubs; foodbank charity Start-Up Stirling; Forth Valley Royal Hospital’s Children’s Ward, and Stirling Down’s Syndrome Parent and Toddler Group.
Also added this year is the Support4Families project based in Stirling, which supports families affected by a loved one’s drug or alcohol misuse. It particularly helps kinship care children, often looked after by grandparents, some of whom are in retirement age and on restricted incomes.
While a number of workplaces and schools are hugely supportive of Give A Gift, individuals also answer the call in their droves, dropping gifts off at various drop-off points.