Big hearted residents donate thousands of gifts to Burnley Together Christmas Present Appeal

And those gifts will be opened by 1,208 children in 630 families across the borough on Christmas morning. Burnley Together co-ordinator Nicola Larnach said the appeal this year had been a ‘massive success’ adding: “We can’t thank everyone enough for the donations and the help and support given to run the appeal.

“It is amazing to know that the whole community comes together to support families in need.”

Launched 28 years ago by the Salvation Army the Burnley Express backed appeal has made sure struggling families have gifts for their children to open on Christmas morning. When the pandemic hit in 2020 the Salvation Army volunteers had to step back from the appeal so Burnley Together kindly agreed to take over. Aimed at children and young people up to the age of 16, each child receives a main gift, a second present, two small gifts and also a selection box.

This year 579 boys and 629 girls were catered for and 35 organisations and businesses hosted collection boxes for the toys. Sixteen schools and three supermarkets collected donations and Burnley Together received referrals from 32 schools and five nurseries along with other referrals from social services and community groups providing support for vulnerable families.

Nicola paid tribute to the army of volunteers who also stepped forward to help with sorting the gifts out for families, including 60 students from Burnley College, 15 pupils from Shuttleworth College and organisations including, Ringstones, Exertis, Mann and Hummel, Daisy Communications, Calico Group and Burnley West PCN.