Romford customers of new home shopping catalogue make donation to Barnardo’s Hub in Ilford

The Romford customers of a new home shopping catalogue have clubbed together to make a sizeable donation to the Barnardo’s Wellbeing Hub in Ilford.

L-R: Laura Griffiths, Barnardo’s Service Administrator with Bob and Rosemarie Hardy from VivaMK. Picture: Barnardo's - Credit: Archant

Bob and Rosemarie Hardy from VivaMK in Harold Wood went to the hub last Thursday (November 26) to deliver an array of toys — worth around £600 — which included games, puzzles, colouring books and teddy bears.

The Granville Road hub, run together with Redbridge Council, supports children and young people with disabilities and those with caring responsibilities.

It offers a range of services including short after-school breaks, holiday clubs, counselling services and respite, alongside specialist guidance, training and support for young carers.

Expressing gratitude for VivaMK’s donation, the hub’s team manager Sharon Conroy said: “The items will be of great use to us at the hub and will provide lots of fun and excitement to the children and young people we support. The past few months have been incredibly difficult for our families, staff and volunteers, and moments like these make us realise just how fortunate we are to have such widespread support in our local community.”

Bob from VivaMK added: “This year has been exceptionally different for disadvantaged children and young people in our community which is why our customers felt compelled to support the vital work of Barnardo’s by making a donation to its Wellbeing Hub. We hope the toys and games will bring some much-needed festive cheer to the children, staff and volunteers at the hub, and we applaud them for everything they do.”

Barnardo’s are also running its Kidsmas festival appeal to raise vital funds to support vulnerable children throughout the UK.

People are invited to set up a Kidmas snowman fundraising page; family and friends throw snowballs to unlock more levels to customise the snowman, with each thrown counting as a donation to Barnardo’s.

The Ilford hub — visited by the Duchess of Cornwall last year — is part of the charity’s UK-wide operation, which last year supported almost 300,000 children, young people, parents and carers.

For more information on Barnardo’s work in Ilford, visit this link.

To get involved in the Kidsmas festival appeal, visit this link.