
Body and Soul Charity
Trauma charity brought Christmas cheer to vulnerable families in pandemic
The pandemic didn’t stop more than 500 vulnerable London families receiving hampers full of goodies after their Christmas party was cancelled.
Charity Body and Soul, based in Angel, supports thousands of adults and children living with trauma across the UK, and set up the Big Christmas Give to show members they were valued.
Hollie Smith, from Body and Soul, said: “Every year we have a big party to celebrate and we didn’t want to do nothing, so we decided to send gifts to our members in their homes.”
Volunteer Ruby Stringer, who works in sustainable transport planning, realised the logistics would be “complicated”.
“It’s not very often transport planning is seen as a useful skill and I thought this is my chance. We also wanted to make sure drivers had time to check in with members – and it wasn’t just a delivery but someone who cares,” she said.
Routing software company QRoutes came to the rescue and and created a bespoke plan to deliver the hampers before Christmas.
One Body & Soul member said: “I’ve never received a gift like this.Thank you, it’s really appreciated.”
Rob Roberston, from QRoutes, said: “We were delighted to help Body and Soul bring some Christmas cheer to families in need.”
Readers can support Body & Soul here https://www.justgiving.com/bodyandsoul