An Irvine travel agent branch partnered with Barnardo’s for the second year in a row to give some of the most disadvantaged children in Scotland a gift this Christmas.
Barrhead Travel more than doubled their donations, providing 500 gifts to children and young people across various levels of care including children with learning and physical disabilities, mental health issues, children in care, families in crisis and those suffering in their home environment.
Barrhead Travel Irvine and Ayr branch are donating to East Ayrshire Families Service Axis who support children and young people affected by personal, adult or parental substance misuse as well as offering mental health and therapeutic support, including early intervention for those at risk of homelessness and other harmful behaviours.
Each member of the Barrhead Travel team is matched with a child from the service who has written a short wish list of gifts they would like from Santa this year. Wishes included pyjamas, toiletries, card games and dolls.
Barrhead Travel employees posed as Santa and his helper as they embarked on their annual Santa Run; delivering donated gifts to Barnardo’s centres, meeting the support team and finding out more ways they can help.
Lee Johnstone, Fundraising Lead for Barnardo’s Scotland said: “The generosity of Barrhead Travel employees throughout Scotland who have donated some wonderful presents to children and young people we support in the communities local to each of their stores has been incredibly heart-warming.”
“Christmas is unfortunately not always the special and magical time it should be for some but thanks to Barrhead Travel staff’s kindness, the children receiving these gifts won’t go without. Thank you so much to all who contributed, we are so thankful and rest assured they are going to great homes!”
Angela Gemmell, Regional Manager at Barrhead Travel said: “We really got behind this initiative and enjoyed buying gifts directly from the child’s Christmas list. We hope this will help bring a little bit of Magic to their Christmas day this year.
I am so proud of the team who put in a special effort to give back in their local community at Christmas, it has inspired us to do more.”
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