Hundreds of children living in the Southampton area will receive Christmas presents thanks to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons.
Members donated new toys and funds throughout the province – which includes Christchurch and Bournemouth.
They were all donated to the SCRATCH charity and delivered by the Southern Chapter of the Widow’s Sons Masonic Biker Association (WSMBA).
President of the Southern Chapter WSMBA Mike Field said:
I am proud that we have driven this initiative across the whole province, and delivered 1000 toys and £3,000.
Mike Smith, the SCRATCH Senior Manager (Operations), said:
SCRATCH is extremely grateful to the Widow’s Sons and Freemasons across Hampshire and Isle of Wight for their incredibly generous donation of toys and funding.
They will be used to ensure that many of the poorest families in Southampton will receive gifts for their children and so experience some Christmas joy which would not have been possible if it wasn’t for this act of kindness.
In a typical year, SCRATCH collects and distributes around 15,000 toys and gifts to upwards of 2,000 children and young people who are referred through a variety of organisations, including social services, NHS, schools, housing associations and caseworkers.
The main drive for donations is pre-Christmas, but SCRATCH collects toys and gifts throughout the year in support of the Christmas initiative.
With the help of their own staff, very many volunteers and Southampton City Neighbourhood Wardens, the gifts are sorted and then delivered in a two-day period in the week before Christmas.
SCRATCH (Southampton City Region Action To Combat Hardship) was formed in 1999 to relieve the effects of poverty in the area.
It runs a number of projects which address three main forms of poverty, lack of furniture, fuel and food.
The flagship ’Dorcas’ project delivers furniture packages for people moving into independent living or into the area without the means to purchase furniture. The aim is to ensure that no-one in genuine need of furniture should go without and packages can be delivered without delay in crisis situations.
Further information can be found on the website at www.scratchcharity.co.uk
