Coventry Building Society joined forces with Coventry Boys and Girls Club to put smiles on faces during this festive season, with the “CovenTREE Christmas Wishlist” Initiative.
Coventry Building Society, a longtime supporter of CBGC, placed a Christmas Tree in its city “branch,” adorned with tags for suggested presents for children of all ages. Customers who wanted to take part then purchased a gift, depending on the tag that they took from the tree. When it came time for CBGC Youth Leader, Leah O’Loughlin to collect the presents, she was overwhelmed by the public generosity showed at this time of giving.
“My car was full”, said Leah.”There were 100’s of donations from toys to books and gift sets, through to selection boxes. One gentleman, who had won a hamper from an earlier raffle, even donated it back to us!”
Earlier this month, The Big Issue reported that children are missing out on Christmas presents due to the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK. One in seven carers (14 per cent) cannot afford to give their children a Christmas present and nearly seven in 10 (67 per cent) are worried about being able to afford Christmas dinner, according to recent research by the Salvation Army.
The CovenTREE Christmas Wishlist concept was the brainchild of Coventry Building Society, and was coordinated there by Sarah Tamplin along with Laura McNally, who is the business development manager at CBGC. Artwork and posters were also designed and distributed free of charge to help catch the minds and hearts of those who wanted to get involved.
A spokesperson for Coventry Boys and Girls Club said:
“CBGC would like to thank Coventry Building Society and the well-wishing staff and customers who dug deep at a difficult time, to put smiles on the faces of young people. As a charity, we see first hand how the current economic crisis is affecting some of our members and we could not be prouder of how the community comes together whenever they can.”
Contact Coventry Boys & Girls Club