A food bank in Didcot has benefited from warm-hearted gym members.
They may be all about fitness and keeping in shape but keeping exercised and fit doesn’t mean they couldn’t carry out a kind hearted good deed for others in need.
Members and non-members of Pure Gym in Didcot, which opened last November, donated around 200 Easter treats to bring smiles to children who may otherwise go without.
The Easter Egg drive was in partnership with Didcot fundraising group, Play2Give, which was founded by Andy Baker from the town in 2007.
This was the first year the gym and the fundraising organisation had teamed up to run the Easter Egg Appeal and an eggscellent response was received with a cracking 200 plus eggs and treats donated by the generosity of those who use the gym and from residents who heard about the appeal and wanted to help, which will spread smiles to families in need this Easter.
38 of the eggs were donated around £48 im value by the Tesco Express store in Didcot.
The appeal was originally ran to collect eggs for children in hospital at Oxford Children’s Hospital but due to the Coronavirus outbreak and restrictions in place due to the amazing response with 5 large clear sacks of Eggs it was felt that the Didcot Food Bank was a worthy alternative cause.
Pictured are all the eggs. They were delivered last Friday (April 3rd) to the food bank, which is based at the town’s Baptist Church, by Andy Baker and gym manager, Hollie Randall, using the social distance rules set out by the government.
Play2Give was founded in September 2007 and over £220,000 has been raised and donated to various local charities including Oxford Children’s Hospital since, through events and through Christmas gift giving appeals, otherwise known as Sleigh2Give.
The Didcot based fundraising organisation was named the Charity of the Year at the Thames Valley Business and Community Awards ceremony held in Reading in January.
Its founder Andy Baker, who has been fundraising for 18 years, after he was inspired by the childhood treatment he received in Oxford after being born with a brain injury, cut the ribbon to the new Pure Gym Local which opened last November.
The teams are planning more fundraisers together over the coming years.