Salvation Army in plea for gifts

From the archive, first published Saturday 9th Dec 2006.

A charity is appealing to shoppers to spread a little festive cheer to struggling families this Christmas.

The Salvation Army in Keighley fears a lack of drop-off points for its Christmas Gift Appeal this year will leave it short.

Superdrug in the town has been its main drop-off point for the past three years but now Asda has taken on the role nationwide.

The Salvation Army's appeal co-ordinator Chris Brown said: "It's great someone took over the responsibility but the big problem for us is that our nearest Asda is in Shipley which means we might struggle to get presents for Keighley families.

"We are very worried we will be left short. We need people to be as generous as they possibly can, right here in Keighley."

As well as people being able to drop off gifts at the Salvation Army's Citadel in the High Street, two more shops - Craftylee in Church Green and Nursery Corner in Worth Way - have just come forward to help collect unwrapped presents.

Mrs Brown said: "We get our referrals from housing projects, family centres and social services. We help about 150 families most of who have three or four children each which gives an idea of just how many presents we need.

"We also do food hampers to help out."

An army of volunteers wrap up the gifts to make sure suitable presents get to the youngsters.

She said: "It's an enormous task but we get on with it. We're looking for toys or gifts suitable right from babies to 16-year-olds. It's all got to be new, we can't take second-hand."

One Keighley-based project that benefits from the appeal is Wesley Housing which has a refuge for families. A spokesman said: "Many of them come from broken homes and violent relationships and have often had to flee leaving everything behind.

"We have been getting gifts from the Salvation Army for more than 15 years and we rely on these donations to make Christmas special for our mothers and children."

The Keighley Citadel is open on Mondays to Thursdays, from 10am to 3pm.

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