Scarborough garden centre donates coats to charity’s winter appeal

Team members at the Yorkshire Garden Centres group which includes Dean’s Garden Centre in Scarborough, donated 54 winter coats to Westminster CofE primary school in Bradford as part of Yorkshire Children’s Charity’s Winter Support Campaign to help families with essential items like warm, waterproof coats, school shoes, bedding, and pyjamas.

“Winter is an incredibly difficult time for the families Yorkshire Children’s Charity supports: for many parents, in an attempt to keep their heads above water, everyday life comes at the cost of skipping meals to feed their children or going without essential utilities. Even then, with the rising cost of living, many are finding that despite their best efforts and sacrifices, this just isn’t enough,” said Annabel Robinson, head of events at the charity.

Liz Holland, safeguarding lead at Westminster school thanked the team at Yorkshire Garden Centres, saying: “The coats will make a world of difference. We have families who have fled wars and families who have been in abusive relationships: it means so much for the children here.”

The coats were collected by team members at all of the Yorkshire Garden Centre sites in Tong, Tingley, Otley, Bingley, York and Scarborough.

Yorkshire has the third highest rate of child poverty in the UK, with 31% of children living in the region currently living in poverty. Yorkshire Children’s Charity aims to relieve some of the immediate struggles of families living with poverty and disability, while in the long-term, they are working to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty across the region. The Winter Support Campaign is just one of many programmes that run throughout the year.