A Romford-based charity received support for its annual Christmas toy appeal from a global company.
SMILE, which provides support to 26 family hostels across London and Essex as well as organisations including social services and the Refugee Council, has been running its appeal for seven years.
This year, however, international investment bank Goldman Sachs sent 41 volunteers from its London office to help gift-wrap shoeboxes and sort donations, to be sent to families in need.
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Maria Quaife, SMILE's chief executive, said that, thanks to Goldman Sachs’ help, a total of 2,000 presents are now able to be distributed.
The wrapping itself took place in Romford Shopping Hall on December 9, where, according to Maria, the volunteers “danced around to festive classics from Mariah Carey to Michael Bublè, ate bacon sarnies and mince pies, and more importantly, they wrapped and filled 474 boxes of gifts for local disadvantaged children”.
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The presents are now sat in SMILE’s Romford hub, ready to be distributed to the 26 hostels, including Abercrombie House and Will Perrin Court in Havering.
On the support from Goldman Sachs, Maria said: “We had a great day with them. On top of supporting us with these gifts, it gave us an opportunity to raise awareness of hidden homelessness and child poverty to a large group of people from a vast range of social economic backgrounds.”
Mike Marsh, global co-head of credit finance at Goldman Sachs, said: “It was an immensely rewarding day and our team from Goldman Sachs thoroughly enjoyed volunteering with SMILE. What an amazing organisation SMILE is”.
Maria added that, while the charity is no longer taking in presents for the appeal, it is accepting financial donations through PayPal.
To donate to SMILE, visit: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=NYEMV9FV9F8ZU
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