Kersiebank Community Project: Ineos FPS staff play Santa to Grangemouth charity
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Staff from Ineos FPS (Forties Pipeline System) have once again responded to Kersiebank Community Project’s (KCP) annual appeal to provide many Santa sacks’ worth of toys for children who might otherwise have gone without.
The project works throughout the year with people in need and Ineos staff have generously supported the annual Christmas Appeal for several years now.
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Hide AdBindi Green, of Kersiebank Community Project, said: “We are very grateful to companies like Ineos FPS who support the work we do in the local community.
“Their donations and time spent by the employee volunteers make a real difference in helping us to deliver the support needed by the families we help.”
A team from Ineos visited the volunteers in KCP’s base in La Porte Precinct to see literally hundreds of toys and gifts that are now on their way to homes.
The donations are all made in the strictest confidence through a partnership with local schools who make sure that the gifts are appropriate for each child.
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Hide AdNicola Kirkham, LPG team administrator with Ineos, said: “It is extremely heart-warming to know that our donation will bring so much pleasure to young people in our community this Christmastime.”
Manager Stuart Hunter added: “It’s really good for us to be able to support the community and it’s great to see how many people they are able to help. They do great work here and we are pleased to be a part of it.”
Donna Murray, who organises the Christmas appeal for KCP, said they are very grateful for the continued support at a time when the need in the community is greater than ever.
She said: “We’ve been doing this for quite a few years now and we always think ‘next year will be better’ – but the cost of living crisis is hitting people really hard and this year is worse than ever.”
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Hide AdIn fact, she says the number of families that the charity works with has almost doubled in the past year.
Despite funding coming to an end, KCP has continued to run a food bank which is also finding that it is more needed than ever.
Food bank volunteer Rev. Susan Ward says this year they are helping many more working families than before as people struggle with rising prices.
“By the time they have paid all their bills there is nothing left for food. We are also finding that people on zero hours contracts are really struggling.”
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Hide AdThe charity is also finding that donations of food from the public are not coming in the way they once did as everyone is feeling the effect of the cost of living rises.
But they will, once again, have a massive food giveaway on Christmas Eve when they collect unsold food from retailers and make it available free to anyone who can use it.
The volunteers have, however, learned from experience that people do not want huge turkeys as they cannot afford to heat them in the oven.
This year a retired butcher, Rab Ferguson, is helping portion the meat to make cooking more manageable and less expensive.
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Hide AdMany of the toys were bought at Stirling toy store The Entertainer, who also donated £2600 to the appeal and helped Donna and the team sort and deliver a mountain of gifts.
Another generous donation of £1000 came from Stan Moore of Moore Equipment Hire Limited, and Whyte & Mackay have also supported the charity.
The Murphy Young Foundation also helped to buy gifts for older children and there has also been generous support from the wider community that they are very grateful for.
It has all meant that the Christmas toy appeal is making a huge difference to more than 250 children this year, while the Project has also made up more than 200 parcels for elderly people.