Published: December 28, 2020 | Updated: 28th December 2020
We may be in the middle of a pandemic but it hasn’t stopped businesses, schools and groups showing the true spirit of Christmas.
Our bumper news round-up features Haskins Garden Centres, Shears Brothers (Transport) Ltd, Rotary Wessex, OnBuy.com, Diverse Abilities, Encore Care Homes, Avonwood Primary School, Dorset Community Foundation, The Bus Stop Club, Porter Dodson and David Wilson Homes.
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Haskins Garden Centre donates cuddly bears to local causes
Haskins Garden Centre in Ferndown has partnered with Julia’s House and Poole Hospital Charity to spread festive cheer this Christmas.
The garden centre has donated over 70 cuddly bears to each charity, with the aim of bringing a smile to children’s faces this festive season.
Julia’s House is delivering hampers to the families it supports, particularly those who will be self-isolating over the festive period.
The Haskins bears will supplement the hampers to help spread joy to those who need it most this Christmas.
Lisa Looker, Brand Director, Haskins, said: “For several years now, Haskins has donated hundreds of cuddly bears to different local causes, with the aim of delivering some festive joy and we’ve worked hard to not break the tradition this year.
“After such a challenging year, we wanted to do something special to help those in our community, who might be having a tough time, feel a little more festive.
“We hope that the children at Poole Hospital and at Julia’s House will be delighted to receive their cuddly bears and that they have a lovely Christmas.”
Haskins has donated more than 400 cuddly bears to schools and charities across the south this festive season, in communities that are local to its centres.
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Logistics firm plays Santa in Rotary Wessex Christmas Shoebox Scheme
A Bournemouth logistics company is playing Santa in a mammoth Christmas charity operation.
Every year, Rotary Wessex organises a Christmas Shoebox Scheme which, in previous years, has seen up to 26,000 shoeboxes generously filled with Christmas gifts donated by local children and adults throughout October and November.
Each filled shoebox will cost around £20, so the operation is usually worth over £600,000.
The gifts in the boxes are donated for the benefit of disadvantaged children in other parts of the world.
This year, Shears Brothers (Transport) Ltd is providing vital logistical support for the charity.
It is offering use of its forklift vehicles and storing around 100 pallets of goods in its warehouse at Bournemouth Airport, all free of charge.
The pallets will remain with Shears until late January, while customs clearance is sought.
They will then be sent to children across the globe to locations such as Albania, Moldova, and Philippines.
Two giant shipping containers and numerous vans full of shoeboxes carrying donated gifts were delivered to Shears, a Pall-Ex owned operation, in mid-December with the process overseen by Bob Kimber, Warehouse Manager.
He said: “Every year the Rotary Club hosts this appeal and receives fantastic support from the Wessex community.
“I have to say a massive thank you to the team at fellow Pall-Ex member Isle of Wight Distribution, who assisted us in moving some of the pallets from the Isle of Wight to their mainland depot in Chandlers Ford, free of charge.
“The small donations that people have made in the shoeboxes may not seem like much to some, but the children receiving these gifts cherish them and it really makes such a difference to their lives.”
Paul Bulpitt, Shears’ General Manager, said: “A massive thanks to Bob for giving up his spare time at the weekend to oversee the operation.
“I am proud we as a business can support this brilliant cause.”
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OnBuy.com helps bring Christmas to children at Diverse Abilities
Dorset’s disability charity, Diverse Abilities, created a Santa’s grotto with the backing of OnBuy.com.
The grotto, hosted at Coping with CHAOS in West Moors, saw 42 families meet Father Christmas and receive presents for the children.
Amy Topp, Short Breaks Coordinator, Diverse Abilities, said: “I am really proud of the team for pulling together this grotto for the children.
“We made many precautions to ensure the whole process was fully Covid-secure for both our staff and the families we support.
“It was truly heart-warming to see all the children enjoy something we initially thought would be impossible this year.
“We received loads of great feedback from the children and their parents alike.”
Cas Paton, OnBuy’s CEO and winner of Just Entrepreneurs’ Founder of the Year 2020, pictured left, said: “We take pride in supporting our community, so it’s great to be able to give back to organisations on our doorstep here in Poole.
“Christmas should be a magical time for all children and I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to play a part in creating some magic for the families supported by Diverse Abilities.
“The pandemic has had such an impact on not-for-profit organisations.
“It’s going to be crucial, for those of us who can, to really dig deep in the coming years and help charitable causes so that they can continue supporting those who need it most.”
Coping with CHAOS and Project My Time support children aged up to 18 with additional needs, and their families, through play sessions during the school holidays, family sessions, advice and guidance for parents, and weekend clubs for children and their siblings.
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Schoolchildren create festive paper hearts for care home residents
Primary schoolchildren have created more than 130 paper hearts promoting kindness to brighten the walls of a Christchurch care home.
Pupils from Avonwood Primary School in Bournemouth have been learning about kindness during their lessons.
And they decided to grab their colouring pens and pencils to create some brightly coloured designs for the residents of Encore Care Homes’ Fairmile Grange in Christchurch.
Harrison Nash, seven, and his brother, Jack, five, presented the artwork to Kim Butters, Wellbeing Manager at Fairmile Grange.
They were supported by their mum, Claire Nash, a teaching assistant at Avonwood Primary School, and teacher, Sarah Darch.
Sarah said: “As part of our PSHE lessons, we’ve been looking at kindness and we made small care hearts to give to each other with a nice message on.
“Then we thought this would be a nice way to spread kindness outside of school.”
The colourful care hearts feature festive, winter drawings including Christmas trees, snowmen, Father Christmas, reindeers and even snowball fights, alongside positive messages of encouragement from the Year 1 and Year 5 pupils.
Kim said: “We are used to having children coming into the care home but haven’t been able to during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is lovely to see that the children have been thinking of us.
“We will be able to make a lovely display with the care hearts as well as residents being able to have them decorating their rooms.”
Encore Care Homes has four purpose-built care homes supporting residents with residential, nursing and dementia care.
The Encore family also includes Oakdale in Poole and Great Oaks in Bournemouth.
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Rotary members collect 400+ toys for Salvation Army
“A magnificent response”.
The reaction from the Rotary Club of Bournemouth East Cliff after collecting more than 400 toys for the Salvation Army Toy Appeal.
Members also raised £1,000.
The toys have now been safely delivered to Boscombe Salvation Army.
A spokesman said: “Many thanks to all who helped to make this magnificent response possible.
“You have certainly given a little kindness to the local children who would otherwise miss out on this season of goodwill.
“The toys will be distributed to those in need before Christmas and will provide some Christmas joy in these strange and difficult times for everyone.”
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Festive meals and treats delivered to struggling families
Families on low incomes and struggling with debt will tuck into hearty Christmas meals thanks to a coronavirus fund grant.
The Bus Stop Club in Ferndown will be cooking and delivering more than 50 meals to individuals and families after receiving a grant of more than £1,000 from the Dorset Community Foundation’s Dorset Coronavirus Community Fund.
The fund has already distributed more than £800,000 through more than 200 grants to groups across the county.
Susan Sutherland, Project Manager of the 15-year-old club, said: “We usually have a Christmas dinner here in our centre for the families we work with but this year we can’t do that so we are taking it to their doorstep.”
The charity, based at the Turbary Resource Centre behind the Hope Church in Corbin Avenue, works with dozens of families through its Christians Against Poverty debt help service.
It also runs after-school activities, a community store cupboard and anxiety management classes.
Susan, pictured left with some of the goodie bags to be delivered to low income families, said: “We are a befriending charity and within that we have several things going on.
“Our main project is Christians Against Poverty (CAP), helping people who are in unmanageable debt.
“We support them on their journey out of debt with one-to-one advice.
“A lot of people contact us when they are at the very end of their tether and are often suicidal.
“CAP gives them hope and we tell them that we can get it sorted within a few years.
“We have seen 26 people go debt free since we began CAP and that’s a huge thing for people.”
Aside from support and advice, the charity provides practical help.
“We have a big store cupboard here with food donated by Sainsbury’s and the Fare Share scheme from Lidl and Tesco,” said Susan.
“People who are struggling can come in every morning and pay a pound to choose a bag of food.
“It helps them to keep out of further debt while they are paying their debts off.”
The group’s after-school activities have been converted into home delivery of craft packs.
The packs, put together by staff member Lucy Harding, feature games and creative activities.
“It’s quite a hard to engage area and Lucy has worked really hard to overcome that so we are really pleased at how that’s developed this year,” said Susan.
The families who receive the packs will also be getting Christmas goodie bags thanks to a donation from Sainsbury’s.
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Law firm donates £6,000 to eight charities
Law firm Porter Dodson normally hosts Christmas drinks for all its eight offices in Dorset and Somerset in December.
But unable to celebrate Christmas in the usual way it’s instead donated £6,000 to local charities.
All have been hard hit this year with fundraising events cancelled while their services have been needed more than ever.
The charities receiving donations are:
Richard Baker, Head of the Family Team and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Partner, pictured right, said: “Being able to reach out into the community at these challenging times means a lot to the firm and we are delighted to support those in need over the festive season.
“Putting others first is at the heart of what we do, and we want to make sure, as far as we are able, that no one goes without over Christmas.
“Everyone should have a roof over their head and food on their table every day and we know that this year has been very challenging for many people.”
Rob Fox, Managing Partner, pictured left, added “By working together, we can help end poverty.
“Our office heads chose these charities because they are at the heart of the communities where we have offices.
“All but one provides food and shelter, with Julia’s House playing an invaluable role in the lives of families at a very difficult time, made even more difficult by Covid-19.”
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‘Santa Safety Kit’ ensures Father Christmas can deliver this Christmas
A major housebuilder is reassuring its younger residents in Dorset that Santa can safely deliver their presents this Christmas.
The team at David Wilson Homes’ Quarter Jack Park and Canford Paddock developments in Wimborne and Poole have put together a ‘Santa Safety Kit’ to ensure Father Christmas has all he needs to protect himself from Covid-19 as he moves from house to house this Christmas Eve.
Each kit will include a face mask, gloves and hand sanitiser for Santa, as well as some handy tissues to keep in Rudolph’s sneezes. Everything needed for a safe Christmas delivery in 2020!
Tammy Bishop, Sales Director, David Wilson Homes, welcomes this important safety step for both Santa and new homeowners on the development.
She said: “There is one person that can’t be furloughed this year and that’s Father Christmas.
“We are determined to make sure he can deliver presents to our children as usual.
“With all he needs to protect himself and our residents, this safety kit will mean that one very important aspect of Christmas 2020 can carry on regardless of the pandemic.”
The safety kits will be given to all new homeowners moving in to David Wilson Homes’ developments across the region, including Quarter Jack Park and Canford Paddock.
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Home Care ‘elves’ spread Christmas joy this festive season
Cupcakes, Christmas dinners and presents.
Meet the festive home care elves on a mission to raise a smile this Christmas.
The team at Good Oaks Home Care in Bournemouth and Poole have been spreading joy with surprise festive deliveries.
It includes sending out more than 80 cupcakes with carers when they visit clients.
The team has also delivered Christmas dinners to those who are self-isolating so they have a tasty festive treat to enjoy.
Dorset Mums has also teamed up with the Good Oaks team to deliver gift bags to clients.
Pavlina Jones and Ellie Prosser with the gift bags donated by the Dorset Mums community group.
The community group has donated more than 1,000 gift bags across Dorset to:
The Good Oaks care team will deliver them to people along with the Christmas dinners.
Claire Jackson, Branch Manager at the Good Oaks Home Care HQ in Poole, said: “We wanted to do everything we could to go above and beyond and make Christmas 2020 extra special for everyone in our care.
“Everyone knows it has been a tough year and we have been constantly working to ensure everyone in our care is safe, happy and contented.
“It’s about spreading a little extra joy at this time of year and making people smile just a bit more.
“Having a Christmas dinner, presents to open and someone to have a chat to on the big day, is something many of us take for granted but for many people, our carers might be their only contact during Christmas.
“We want to do everything we can to go above and beyond and make this Christmas an extra special one.”
The team has also signed up the Good Morning Britain’s One Million Minutes campaign, where people volunteer their time to support someone who might be lonely, or who doesn’t have anyone to talk to over Christmas.
