The organisers of a festive appeal have thanked businesses and members of the community for their “overwhelming generosity” in bringing smiles to 138 children and young people.
For a second year running, Nicola McGowan and her husband Nik, who run the NellyBoxes East Ren Baby Bank, asked people to donate gifts to the area’s most in need youngsters.
From November tags for each intended recipient were available from a tree at the ARC (Auchenback Resource Centre) where the baby bank is based, with all soon taken and all pledges eventually fulfilled.
Touchingly, the tree was named the Rita Tree in honour of the late Rita Connelly, who along with her husband Brian played a key role in securing the funding needed to build the ARC.
Known to many as ‘Aunty Rita,’ Rita was a leading light in a number of local organisations, including Barrhead Community Council and the ARC.
Nicola told the Barrhead News: “We did the same thing last year, but this year we named it after Rita because (ARC chairperson and manager) Brian has been really good to us.
“He let us have our room for free for about six months until we got our funding in place.
“He’s been a big supporter of us, so we wanted to do something for him.
“(The appeal) is something Rita would have been behind.
"She loved to do things for the community especially children in the community.”
As well as members of the community handing in gifts, as previously reported by the Barrhead News, Barrhead Housing arranged for MCN Limited, who are delivering their kitchen replacement contract, to donate £1,000 to the appeal.
Staff from AC Whyte, a family-owned business in Barrhead, also took 20 tags instead of doing a secret santa and added a few gifts for mums and dads.
Another firm, Complete Cleaning Services, took a host of tags and donated gifts, as did East Renfrewshire Council’s Learning Disability Team instead of doing a secret santa.
Co-op Barrhead and Neilston also took tags and hung them up on their trees in store.
And in a tremendous act of generosity, a local resident Caitlin Taylor donated 105 selection boxes to the appeal.
“We're all completely overwhelmed once again by the generosity of people in the Barrhead and Neilston community,” explained Nicola.
“We couldn't have done any of this without their help and support and we hope they all know how much its appreciated.
“There were so many people getting behind us it was just mad.
“The place looked like a toy shop. It was just crazy some of the stuff which was handed in.
"Somebody came in with a bag of £350 worth of stuff.
"We also did an affordable Christmas party for people who maybe couldn’t afford it this year.
“We gave away some free spaces and there was no charge for under ones.
“We rely a lot on support from the community so I would love to thank everybody who helped us.”
The baby bank runs on Wednesdays from 11.30am to 1pm and will open back up again following the festive period on Wednesday, January 10.
To find out more visit the NellyBoxes East Ren Baby Bank page on Facebook.
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