December 2024 – The shoeboxes are on their way and Christmas Fair at The Farm Animal Sanctuary.
Link to Hope
The shoeboxes have started to arrive at their destinations with some photos on the Link to Hope Facebook page of deliveries in Romania and Moldova. (You don’t need to be a Facebook member to view them, but you may only be able to view a few at a time before refreshing the screen.)
This year 25,633 shoeboxes were filled for Link to Hope. Photos will be added to the Link to Hope website. I try to take time to remember all those involved in filling shoe boxes, co-ordinating them at a local level, transporting them to the super hubs and those packing them into the out boxes, transporting them across Europe and then those distributing them, and the recipients themselves and the difference your gifts will make to families and elderly people.
The Farm Animal Sanctuary
The Christmas Fair was really well attended despite the extreme weather warning of Storm Bert and was warmer than previous years despite being held in one of the animal barns. More people attended and I raised more money than last year for the sanctuary. It did follow very soon after the Link to Hope shoe boxes were collected from me, but I’d booked some time off work to ensure I had time to make some extra items for the stall. Next year I need to start preparing sooner 😊.
Bargain Buys
I’m sure there will be some bargains over the next few weeks so I may well add items below. Mags has let me know about a good deal at Yorkshire Trading who have a Foamie solid shampoo bar on a rope reduced to £1.00. You can order online if like me you don’t have a store nearby, but will need to factor in the postage cost, but they do seem good value.
Savers also have a solid shampoo bar for £1.00 but it is smaller than the Foamie one at 50g whereas the Foamie one is 80g. However, both cut down on plastic waste and should last longer than a bottle of shampoo, (based on a few articles on the intranet.)
If you still want to include liquid shampoo then Aldi’s 3 in 1 hair, body and face wash is now 49p – it was 55p a couple of months ago. I tend to add that to my elderly boxes, and I’m sure it will feature in next year’s £10.00 challenge.
I will add other bargains as I see them. It’s never to soon to start buying or crafting for next years boxes 😊.
Update
Dunelm have several items suitable for shoeboxes in their Christmas sale. Scented candle jars for 50p (29 hour burn time), a cutlery set with 4 place settings reduced to £2.50 – there are a few colour options, but I went for sand and sets of 3 pairs of scissors reduced to £1.25.
