Volunteers pack a lot of effort into helping Parcel Fund
Cubs from all over the district roll up their sleeves to ensure that Over-80s enjoy a merry Christmas this year
CHRISTMAS is coming – and the NWN Over-80s Parcel Fund packing has happened.
On Sunday, Newbury’s Sainsbury’s store played host to groups of Cubs from all across the district as they helped to pack up the Christmas parcels.
From 9.45am onwards, Mo Osborne, who has been involved with the Cub groups for many years, was in charge of organising all the groups.
Covid-19 meant the additional stress of social distancing and reduced numbers being allowed in to pack at any one time.
Parcel Fund coordinator Jo Fulker said: “The Over-80s Parcels, supported by Greenham Trust, were packed and our thanks go to Sainsbury’s staff, Carol Irwin the PR ambassador, plus many others who very kindly gave up some of their spare time to do all the packing this year, together with Cubs from 1st Inkpen and Kintbury, 4th Newbury, Greenham, 1st Wash Common, 3rd Newbury, and 1st Woolton Hill, who packed so quickly and efficiently the job was complete in just over two hours.
“Our thanks also go to Welford and Wickham and 2nd Newbury and 1st Newbury who also turned up to help only to find the job had been finished in record time.
“We would also like to thank Sainsbury’s, who despite everything this year, have helped us to achieve what Newbury Weekly News have been doing now since 1897, which is to remember the elderly residents in West Berkshire.”
The Newbury Weekly News Over-80s’ Christmas Parcel Fund has been bringing a little Christmas joy into the lives of many of West Berkshire’s older citizens for more than a century.
It started off as the ‘Two T’s Fund’, when reporter Frank Stillman thought it was a good idea to support the elderly people in the workhouse, or what was known as ‘The House on the Hill’, with tobacco for the gentlemen and tea bags for the ladies.
Today, the Parcel Fund is not means tested in any way as money is no bar to loneliness, and as times have changed so much over the last 100 years we now send the parcels purely as a seasonal ‘thank you’ from the whole of the community; a way of saying thank you to the recipients for all they have done during their lifetime, and