Merry Christmas

We hope you all had a peaceful Christmas and managed to spend time with your loved ones.

This time of year is always very difficult for anyone who has lost someone they loved. 
All the families are getting together and spending time with each other. 
But for those that have lost someone, they still get together with their families but there is always the feeling that someone is missing.

On Friday, 23rd December, we had our final fundraising event of the year. 
We had been allowed to do another bag packing day at our local Asda store in Middleton. 

The staff plus their Community Champion, Leigh Bell-Peirce, have shown us amazing support over the last couple of years. Asda always like to give back to their communities and we have definitely seen them do that for us.

We asked another local group, Bots and Tots, to come along with us on the day to make sure we had every till manned giving us the best chance of raising lots of money. 

Our day started at 11 am, we all arrived ready for a very busy day ahead. With it being the last but one shopping day before Christmas we were expecting it to be manic. 

We were not disappointed.

The tills were full throughout the day, there was never a time when any of us were stood waiting for people to come to the till.

We met some lovely people throughout the day and lots of them either gave money at the till or at the table where we had our wristbands and pens along with our leaflets. 

There were quite a few people who asked what we were raising money for and when we told them they then told us how thy had had a loss in their family.

We even had a few staff members who came back to see us after they had finished their shifts to come and donate or buy a wristband.

At 5pm we finished for the day, most of us had stayed at the tills for the full 6 hours, a few had had short breaks to recharge their batteries. 

We went over to the cafe to start the massive task of counting the money. The shoppers of Middleton had done us proud.

The total amount of money we raised was £585.60, which meant between the two groups we took for our charity £292.80.

At a time of year when most people need all the  money they can to make their family's Christmas special they found it in their hearts to give so much to us. 

We are always amazed and astounded by the generosity of the people we come into contact with and the people who came shopping on Friday just confirmed it.

We will be getting together in the New Year to set out our calendar of events for Charlies Angel Centre for 2017. As soon as we have the details we will let you all know. We hope you will all continue to support us help us get the support and friendship out to bereaved parents and families across the UK.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year.