College donates more than 40 Christmas hampers to The Island charity for families in need
York College & University Centre’s staff and students have donated more than 40 festive hampers to help local families in need this Christmas.
The hampers were filled to the brim after being left in offices and classrooms on Campus throughout late November and early December.
Among the donations were essential items, festive treats, craft products, toys, games and activities for children and their parents or carers.
Students also made crafts and Christmas cards with messages inside.
The hampers have now been transported to the college’s chosen charity for 2025 – The Island York, who will distribute them to the families that they support in the city.
Paul Devlin, a trustee of The Island, was overwhelmed by the college’s generosity and said: “I would like to say a big thank you to everybody involved. We are a mentoring charity for children and young people and this will make a big difference at Christmas for so many families that we support.”
The college were also grateful for a donation from insulation business JS Miller Distribution, who contributed £200 worth of craft items, along with the Community and Customer Services teams at Tesco’s Askham Bar branch for providing boxes for the hampers.
Clare Kirton, who oversaw this year’s appeal along with fellow Humanities tutor Luke Layzelle, said: “This year’s hamper appeal has been a true cross-college effort and the response and contributions from our staff and students has been fantastic.
“We believe we have donated more hampers than in any other year since we started this annual tradition and, along with making generous donations and making gifts, our A Level Law and Philosophy, Ethics and Religion students joined members of our extra-curricular Christian Union group and our international exchange students from Norway and Switzerland to help wrap and display the hampers.
“I’d particularly like to thank students Fin Rhodes, Darci Nicholas-Brown, Faye Oxtoby, Lizzie Young and Salma Abbaz for their support of the appeal. They demonstrated and developed multiple skills that adhere to our college Brilliant Futures Pledge, including teamwork, organisation, creativity and citizenship.”
For more information on The Island York charity and the support they provide, please click here
