Hundreds of gifts delivered thanks to Peterborough mum’s ‘Shoebox’ appeal

Hundreds of festive packages have been delivered to the city hospital, care homes and charity groups across the city thanks to an appeal by a Peterborough mum.
By Rosie Boon
Published 24th Dec 2020, 15:31 BST
Updated 24th Dec 2020, 15:39 BST

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Presentation of Christmas gifts from Sarah Scott of the Christmas Shoebox appeal to Caroline Tucker, Ian Watson, Nora O'Shea and Lucille Valantine at the Cavell Centre.Presentation of Christmas gifts from Sarah Scott of the Christmas Shoebox appeal to Caroline Tucker, Ian Watson, Nora O'Shea and Lucille Valantine at the Cavell Centre.
Presentation of Christmas gifts from Sarah Scott of the Christmas Shoebox appeal to Caroline Tucker, Ian Watson, Nora O'Shea and Lucille Valantine at the Cavell Centre.

Sarah Scott (32), a compliance manager at Whirlpool, wanted to support elderly residents who may have faced isolation and loneliness.

She started her campaign last year, with the help of her family and children Kaitlyn (13) and Alistair (9), and after seeing the delight it brought to people Sarah knew it couldn’t be a ‘one time thing’.

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Thinking outside the box, due to Coronavirus restrictions, Sarah had to change all her collection plans.

Facing a number of challenges including changing drop off points for gift boxes, she did not expect that she would collect more than 750 boxes for the elderly - almost double last year’s total of 379.

She said: “I didn’t really know what to expect this year, but 750 definitely wasn’t in my thoughts. They have been received well with a couple of messages saying thanks to everyone involved.

“The support has been amazing and considering what is going on, it’s been a massive success. Having to put the drop off deadline back due to the lockdown, then pushed deliveries back so last week has been go, go, go with remaining pickups and drop offs.”

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Hundreds of the festive packages were dropped at Peterborough City Hospital, the City Care Centre and care homes and providers across the city.

Messages flooded in filled with thanks for the cause with some saying ‘their residents have no family or friends to see on Christmas Day and this made their year’.

Sarah loved the thought and time that went into the creations that were donated in gift-wrapped shoeboxes by people across the city.

She said: “We had some wonderfully decorated boxes from Ken Stimpson Community School and Arthur Mellows Village College. My absolute favourite was the snowman shoebox, he rode in the front seat when I picked them up. Without everyone’s contributions, it wouldn’t have been possible at all. I cannot thank the communities enough for the support given to the appeal.”

Planning to do it all again next year, Sarah hopes that this will continue for many years to come.

To keep up to date with her campaign go to: https://www.facebook.com/YourGiftToGive/

Related topics:PeterboroughWhirlpoolPlanningPeterborough City HospitalCoronavirus