THIS year’s Giving Tree Appeal has been launched to offer you the chance to make a local child smile this Christmas.
For more than 15 years, generous Wokingham people have dug deep to make sure less fortunate youngsters stay on Santa’s list.
The idea is simple, but it sparkles with the true spirit of the season.
You choose a tag from one of the many Giving Trees across the borough, buy the gift on the tag and return it (unwrapped) to the tree.
Big-hearted volunteers then go to work to get the presents to local charities, which make sure they go to children whose stockings might otherwise have been empty on Christmas morning.
Last year, more than 2,500 tags were collected and hopes are high Wokingham folk will be even more generous this time around.
Gill Mckernan, from Barnardo’s High Close School, organises the appeal with a team of volunteers, “especially the kind staff at Transform Housing”.
They were joined by representatives of the benefiting charities and some of the businesses hosting trees at Tesco in Wokingham on Sunday to launch the 2017 appeal. Also at the launch was Wokingham borough mayor Cllr Rob Stanton and town mayor Cllr Peter Lucey.
Mrs Mckernan said: “Last year was fantastic with over 2,500 tags taken from the trees but I have a feeling that this year could succeed that number. The appeal just gets bigger and bigger each year with more venues wanting to host a tree.
“No child who has asked for a gift through the Giving Tree will go without this Christmas. Supporting the Giving Tree does not mean spending a fortune. Any present will put a smile on the face of a child at Christmas.
“All shoppers need to do is choose a tag, buy the gift suggested and return it, unwrapped to the place where they collected the tag from. I would like to say a huge thank you to PWC who have printed the tags and posters again this year as well as supporting the appeal by buying lots of gifts. Also to all the businesses who are hosting a tree this year.
“A massive thank you goes to Becky Carter, Community Champion for Tesco in Wokingham and her colleague Sue Lovell for hosting the launch on Saturday and to all the charities, businesses and the Town and Borough Mayors who attended.
“We were all made so very welcome and rewarded with some tasty refreshments.”
If you can buy an extra gift to make someone else’s Christmas, find a tree near you and send it with love.
Find your nearest Giving Tree
- The firms hosting Giving Trees are:
- Tescos – Wokingham
- Tescos – Warfield
- Tescos – Martins Heron
- Dell – Bracknell
- Wokingham Borough Council
- Newbury Building Society – Wokingham
- Nirvana Spa/Pulse8 – Wokingham
- Premier Research – Wokingham
- PricewaterhouseCooper – Reading
- Wokingham Library
- CenturyLink – Winnersh Triangle
- Artizian – Catering Services Hurst
- BCD Travel – Maidenhead
- Sedero Lounge – Wokingham
The charities you will be helpning
- Barnardos – Various Projects including Young Carers
- Barnardos Fostering and Adoption Project
- Dingley’s Promise – Early Years Specialists
- Transform Housing and Support
- Home Start
- Women’s Refuge – Berkshire Women’s Aid
- ASD Family Help
- Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice
- Wokingham Crossroads Young Carers Project
- Look Ahead Care and Support
- Children With Special Needs Foundation
- Berkshire Vision
- Sebastian’s Action Trust
