A THOUGHTFUL youngster turned his much-loved toys into a trolley-full of food to help others this Christmas.
Seven-year-old Alfie Ferguson from Finchampstead decided to sell some items from his collection, and use the cash to have a supermarket sweep.
Mum Catherine said: “It’s always difficult to get children to part with old toys before new ones come at Christmas, so this year I said I thought it would be a good idea to try to sell some to help others that were not as fortunate as we are.
“He thought that was a great idea and just started to sort out the things he didn’t want.
“We had also had a few things at school where they had raised money for charities and I think he now understands the importance of helping others.”
She felt that some of this understanding came from lessons at Waverley School, where he is a Year 3 pupil.
“They are brilliant and really talk to the children about kindness and helping others which I think has been great,” she said.
Some of the items that Alfie parted with were given away, but Ms Goad said that the people collecting them were “very kind” and asked to donate to the collection.
The sale raised around £70, and Alfie turned that into a shopping list.
“We looked on the foodbank website to see what they needed most, as well as things they were specifically looking for for Christmas,” she said.
“He helped to find them in the store, and once we went through the checkout we handed the trolley over.
“It’s a nice feeling knowing that you are doing something good.”
Ms Goad is incredibly proud of Alfie’s generous spirit, something that isn’t just for Christmas.
“We are really proud of him, it’s lovely to see he now has an understanding that the small things can make a big difference to others,” she said.
“He loves this time of year and it’s nice that he has been able to make other people’s Christmas a little better.”
The gift has been well received by Wokingham Foodbank, which is now working hard to ensure that families receive food parcels for Christmas.
The centre’s manager, Annette Medhurst, said: “We are constantly overwhelmed by the level of support we receive from people in Wokingham but the generosity from such a young member of the community truly warms our hearts.
“The kindness Alfie has shown will go a long way towards helping households who find themselves struggling to afford food this Christmas.”
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the foodbank, which is based off Broad Street is not currently open to the public for dropping donations in on an adhoc basis.
Items can be left at::
- Morrisons, Woosehill Shopping Centre, Wokingham
- Tesco, Finchampstead Road, Wokingham
- Waitrose, Rectory Road, Wokingham
- Sainsburys, King Street Lane, Winnersh
Ms Medhurst said: “If people have larger donations please can they contact us in advance to arrange a delivery slot so that we can manage donations coming in safely.”
It is appealing for long life milk and hot dogs.
