In 2015 we started a tradition which has now become as much a part of our build up to Christmas as putting up a tree, eating too much and singing along to Fairytale of New York! Each day we go somewhere in Northamptonshire to spread some cheer and show people that they are appreciated. What we give depends on who we visit and what we think they will appreciate receiving. We have 2 parts to how we
do things. We make up refreshments boxes for counselling services, support groups, voluntary organisations and hospices. We donate to the counties food banks. We bake cakes and mince pies for the residents and staff in care homes and homeless shelters. We take animal food, bedding and treats to animal sanctuaries and rescue shelters. We donate toys, books, games and craft supplies to toddler groups, and after school and youth clubs. We have supported The Samaritans, domestic abuse services and refuge and The Northamptonshire Health Charity. Secondly. . . . We have what we call Heroes for Heroes. This is where we take Tubs of 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 we have included all of our emergency services, road sweepers, library staff, refuse collectors, NHS staff and many more. For each day we take photos of what we are doing and aim to post them here on our page between 7-8pm. We show you where we went in the county, who we visited and what we gave. If it’s a service, charity or an organisation that could be of help or interest to our followers we will include information about what they do and if appropriate their contact details too. Our very first day of giving was on 1st December 2015 when we took our first refreshments box to Cransley Hospice. The last one was on 26th December 2024 when we did a thank you to the Wellie Wombles. In total so far we have spent 255 December days out in the county giving to people! We are all really happy with that, and very pleased that we have been able to do it. We have met some really lovely people along the way and will always be glad that we do this. During covid, due to us shielding Aaron who is medically vulnerable we thought we might have to stop. We sat and talked it through and soon realised that all of us wanted to find a way to be able to carry on and complete our 24 days of giving 2020. We knew we couldn’t do things the way we normally do so we tweaked it a little and pushed on. We decided to concentrate mostly on the Thank You’s. So we focused on an individual that we could visit with some heroes to recognise what they do personally and as a representative of all who do the same job. We included young carers, paid carers, and informal carers. Those working in the NHS, retail, logistics, schools, public services and many more. In the beginning we provided everything we gave ourselves. We still buy a lot of what we give, but in the last few years we have been really lucky to have received some help. Some local shops have donated to us which has been a real help. Some of our friends have also helped us in the last couple of years which we are very grateful for. Either by donating food for the food banks, gifts for us to pass on to others or by donating some money to fund some Cadbury’s heroes. This has been amazing. We really are grateful for every bit of help and support that we receive, it's amazing! This year we will be doing it all over again and we can't wait! If you can think of a service, group, charity or organisation in Northamptonshire which you think we should make a delivery to please send us a message. If you haven’t already, Please like our page and follow us to see where we end up and who we meet. Maybe even share our posts if you think it might make someone smile, or invite others to like our page too. Maddie, Reece and Aaron love seeing that people are following, liking posts and leaving comments. We thank you all for your support and hope you will be with us this December for our 11th 24 days of giving! Thank you all for supporting us! Maddie, Reece, Aaron, Ruth & Sarah
