Bedford-based employees at bpha help families in need this Christmas

Dozens of families in need have received some festive cheer after being being given Christmas food hampers.
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A team of 34 employee volunteers from Bedford-based housing association bpha loaded up their cars with hampers on Wednesday (December 18) with essential everyday items including soup, tea and coffee.

And, what's more, the hampers included some extra Christmas chocolate treats for the children - all donated by Lidl in Goldington, Bedford.

They were delivered by hand to 60 tenants living in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire who had been nominated to receive them by bpha employees due to their personal and financial circumstances.

Staff at bphaStaff at bpha
Staff at bpha

It’s the fifth year in a row that bpha has donated Christmas hampers to tenants who find themselves in difficulty at this time of year.

One resident said: “This gift means so much to my family, this kind of thing doesn’t happen to me and we are all so very grateful. It comes at a difficult time for us but has lifted the pressure just at the right time and will help us to enjoy Christmas.”

Jim Playle, community development officer at bpha, said: “This is our fifth year of delivering Christmas hampers to our tenants who need it most at this time of year and once again people showed enormous gratitude.

“Christmas can be a difficult time of year for many people so these deliveries made by employee volunteers from bpha will hopefully go some way to making it a bit easier. We would like to thank Faisal Sheikh and his team at Lidl in Goldington for their support in organising this and their donations to the hampers.”