Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for a family in Irthlingborough, who, this year for the 8th year running, are turning December in to ’24 days of giving’. They call this ‘Our 24 Special Advent Days’ and on each day they go somewhere in Northamptonshire to spread some cheer and show people that they are appreciated.
This year they are visiting many of the new warm spaces that are popping up across the county. In Wellingborough they have chosen to visit St Marks Church and our Winter Warm Space at ECO HUB in Glamis Hall. They donated a lovely hamper of essentials, and lots of games for our warm space, plus lots of toys and fun items for Wellingborough Swap Shop.
They started this tradition in 2015, which has now become as much a part of their build up to Christmas as putting up a tree, eating too much and singing along to Fairytale of New York! What they give depends on who they visit and what they think they will appreciate receiving. They have 2 parts to how they do things…
Firstly they:-
- Make up refreshments boxes for counselling services, support groups, voluntary organisations and hospices.
- Go shopping to donate to the counties food banks.
- Bake cakes and mince pies for the residents and staff in care homes and homeless shelters.
- Take animal food, bedding and treats to animal sanctuaries and rescue shelters.
- Donate toys, books, games and craft supplies to toddler groups, and after school and youth clubs.
- Support The Samaritans, the domestic abuse services and refuge, and the Northamptonshire Health Charity each year.
Secondly they have what they call Heroes for Heroes. This is where they take Cadbury’s heroes to thank people/groups for being real life Heroes. For this Reece and Maddie make a list of who they think should get a thank you for being a Hero. So far they have included all of our emergency services, road sweepers, library staff, refuse collectors, NHS staff and many more.
For each day they take photos of what they are doing and aim to post them on their Facebook page between 7-8pm. They show you where they went in the county, who they visited and what they gave. If it’s a service, charity or an organisation that could be of help or interest to our followers they will include information about what they do and if appropriate their contact details too.
In the beginning they provided everything they gave themselves. They still buy most of what they give, but in the last couple of years they have received some help from local shops and friends, either by donating money to fund some Cadbury’s heroes, food for the food banks or gifts for us to pass on to others.
If you haven’t already, please like their Facebook page and follow them to see where they end up and who they meet. Maybe even share their posts if you think it might make someone smile, or invite others to like their page too. Thank you for our gifts and everything you do for others the Our Special 24 family!