Children across Staffordshire will have a magical Christmas thanks to a joint appeal by Aspire Housing, Tesco and Stoke City.
This is the eighth year that Aspire Housing and Tesco have partnered for the appeal, with Stoke City Community Trust joining the cause this year. We collected 14,000 toys and gifts for local children’s charities across Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Thousands of donated toys were handed over to the recipients at a celebratory Christmas party at Stoke City Football Club on Thursday 12th December. A host of special guests were on hand to help distribute the gifts, including a Stoke City footballing stars, children’s author Richard Bland, Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme Councillor Simon White and Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent Councillor Jackie Barnes.
Sharon Battiste, Engagement Advisor at Aspire Housing, commented: “Year after year, people across our region open their hearts and donate to our gift appeal, and every year we’re blown away by just how generous and compassionate the people in our communities can be. Christmas is a magical time for lots of us, and thanks to the efforts of everybody who’s donated we can help to spread that magic to families and children who may need that extra little bit of support.
“We’re proud to partner with Tesco once again for the Gift Appeal and delighted to work with Stoke City Community Trust to make this year’s appeal extra special. We’d like to thank everybody who took part this year, along with the many organisations who donated money, books and gifts to the cause, including Kidsgrove Town Hall, Novus Property Solutions and Realise charity.”
The gift collections have been taking place at 15 local branches of Tesco, including Hanley, Meir Park, Trent Vale, Kidsgrove, Congleton, Longton, Crewe, Uttoxeter, and Tesco Express stores throughout Staffordshire and Cheshire.
More than 30 local charities throughout Staffordshire and Cheshire benefitted from the toys and games that will be exchanged at the handover event.
Richard Stephenson-Evans, Group Lead Champion at Tesco, said: “The local Tesco shoppers never fail to amaze us with their kindness and generosity. Christmas can be an expensive time of year, so it’s heart-warming to see so many people coming to our stores, buying brand new games and toys, and selflessly donating them to our Gift Appeal just to put a smile on a child’s face. It really does make such a difference for a young person to have a gift to open Christmas morning.”
