Students and staff at All Saint’ Academy lovingly crafted hampers in tutor groups for the fourth year running to donate to the YMCA this Christmas.
Two minibuses & two cars transported forty-two hampers to the Cheltenham YMCA accompanied by six of our Sixth Form students on 15th December.
The YMCA residents kindly presented our students with a gift that they had made in a creative arts class; a lovely canvas created by them.
Lidia Bojczuk, Housing Support Worker at YMCA said ‘The gift of the hampers from All Saints’ Academy is very much appreciated by staff and residents of the YMCA. It can be quite a difficult time for quite a lot of the residents here so to receive such beautiful hampers like this makes a real difference at this special time of year. A lot of our residents for various reasons aren’t in contact with their families or don’t have that network of support so it’s a real special gift that they receive. They absolutely love them and think they’re wonderful. The residents have been very excited about the hampers being delivered again this year, this is the 4th year that All Saints’ has done this for us, it’s been brilliant and we really appreciate it. We want to say thank you to all of the children and the staff involved.’
Sean Giblin, Second in House and Charity Fundraising Champion said ‘The hamper collection is always a fantastic experience. I am very proud of all the Sixth Form students who helped to organise and deliver the hampers. The staff also need to be thanked for getting the students motivated through their own enthusiasm.’
Jackie Millard, Alternative Provision Manager at All Saints’ has successfully run this project for the last 4 years. She said ‘Every year all at ASA take time out of the festivities to think of those less fortunate than themselves. This year our students have creatively put together not just hampers but boxes of care and thoughtfulness. We are so proud of our students, their families and staff for giving a little back to our community at this time of year.’
Sixth Form student Zoe Head, 17 commented ‘It has given me the feeling that Christmas is truly here now and we are making it feel true to all of these people within the YMCA. It brings me joy to see the smile on their faces when we walked in with the hampers you could see they were well and truly grateful.’
Head Student Taylor Crossan, 17 said ‘By physically seeing how thankful they are of what we have done for them makes you want to give more. We feel it will truly make their Christmas and make us feel grateful for what we have.’
