With Christmas fast approaching, many charities are hitting home the importance of tackling food-poverty this winter. Marcus Rashford was recently honoured by the Queen with an MBE for his determination to feed hungry children and now, another star has taken a shot at tackling food-hunger is Wales star Gareth Bale.
‘Everyone Deserves a Christmas’ campaign has been set up by Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris, a campaign designed to give a Christmas with turkey and all the trimmings to those who desperately need it this year by effectively playing Santa. The appeal needs supporters and one of those supporters is the Tottenham Hotspur winger and (neighbouring) Cardiff-born Gareth Bale who recently donated £15,000, which is expected to fund at least 300 food hampers this festive season.
Labour MP Carolyn Harris said: “I can't stop saying thank you Gareth Bale. Gareth's generosity will make a huge difference to this year's campaign. I've literally wept at his kindness and knowing that so many families will wake-up on Christmas day to have a special day is truly amazing.”
Bingo Drop-In
The partnership working together on the campaign include Carolyn Harris MP, Julie James MS, Swansea City Community Trust, Ospreys in the Community, Swansea Council, Castell Howell, Mecca Bingo, Amazon, plus many other businesses and organisations across Swansea and they are all aiming to save Christmas and make it a spectacular one for those who need it!
Backing the ‘Everyone Deserves a Christmas’ campaign is the Swansea branch of Mecca Bingo, who put out an appeal on their Facebook page. Requesting donations of the chocolate kind, the club are asking for help with any kind of selection boxes, golden coins or even just a bar of Dairy Milk. Anything you can spare when you next pop in for a bingo session will go a long way to making venerable people smile this Christmas.
If you’re not local to the club nor the cause, you can still help. The campaign has a Just Giving page where donations can be made directly, whether you have Facebook or not. The website reads: “Help us buy Christmas Hampers for people who deserve a little extra support. Basics from food banks allow survival. But when everyone is enjoying little luxuries, it is easy to feel excluded. Let's give everyone the festive feeling this Christmas.”
Donations can be made up until the 18th December and after the deadline, a team of volunteers will put the hampers together which will then be delivered across the Swansea area on December 21st. To date, donations have been pouring in all over South Wales with gifts from local and national firms – including £999 from the Principality Stadium (the home of Welsh rugby!), £500 from Vodafone, £500 from Osprey’s Community Choir and many more!
Source: “Wales Star Gareth Bale Gives £15,000 for Christmas Hampers”. BBC News. October 31, 2020.
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Comments (1)
bridgetjones
11/16/20, 09:11:20 AM
Lovely to see stars and communities coming together! Swansea and Cardiff are known for bitter rivalries, so it’s great to see all this put aside for the needy.
