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Shoppers dig deep for charity gift wrap

January 2020

Fundraising

An annual Christmas gift-wrapping stall in The Brunel Shopping Centre has surpassed all expectations by raising £7,000 for Prospect Hospice, bringing the total since the initiative started to around £30,000. The stall, which requests cash donations in return for wrapping shoppers’ Christmas presents, is run by an army of volunteers throughout December each year.

Amy Francombe, events and community manager at Prospect Hospice is thrilled with the total. Amy said: “We started this event with The Brunel in 2014 and every Christmas the total has surpassed the previous one and has delighted us. This though is the highest total yet!

“We want to say a massive thank you to the 100+ volunteers who wrapped; we simply would not have been able to do it without them. We also want to thank local business Soft Options Water Softeners Limited who covered the cost of all the wrapping materials, and the team at The Brunel who give us such fantastic support every year.

But mostly we want to thank the local community for supporting us in using the gift-wrap service. People are so generous with their donations, often giving a lot more than the suggested amount per gift and it’s heartening to see that we’re seeing repeat customers each year, now that people are used to the event happening.”

This year’s wrapping materials were funded by Soft Options Water Softeners Limited. Alison Cook, director said: We were over the moon to hear how much the stall has raised and are very proud to have been involved.  As a local family business we feel it is important to give back to the local community and this was a great way for us to do that.”

Rob Faulkner, acting centre manager at The Brunel has confirmed that the gift wrap stall with return again in December 2020. Rob said: “The Brunel Centre is at the heart of Swindon’s community and we very much welcome working with Prospect Hospice as well as our other charity partners. We’re delighted that our support is helping to raise much needed funds for a treasured local resource.”

Prospect Hospice requires £9m annually to deliver dedicated specialist end-of-life care. Last year Prospect cared for 2,555 patients as well as offering support to their family members – all completely free of charge.

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