Surrey Quays shopping centre has unveiled a gigantic ‘giving box’ – which lets shoppers buying essential goods give donations to three important local charities.
The ‘giving boxes’ outside The Range on the ground floor, let shoppers use contactless to easily give donations of £3, £5, or £10 to Time and Talents, Surrey Docks Farm or The Mayor of Southwark’s Common Good Trust.
Ian Moore, centre manager, said: “This festive season, it seems only right to focus on supporting the people, charities and organisations who have gone above and beyond to help the people most in need in our community.
“We hope our customers will enjoy reversing the role of Santa and giving back to these amazing organisations that help people across our local area.”
The Mayor of Southwark’s Common Good Trust provides items such as household goods, school uniform or baby essentials to those in need.
During the pandemic, its volunteers have been giving food hampers out to the community. The second charity, Surrey Docks Farm is a working community farm which also runs workshops and community projects.
Those involved learn and experience a range of things including animal care, food growing, and healthy eating, spending as much time as possible being active outdoors.
Meanwhile Time and Talents has been running for 133 years to connect the local community and reduce loneliness with its projects.
The Rotherhithe institution launched a Covid-19 emergency relief food hub during the pandemic which continues to deliver essential food supplies weekly to local households most in need.
The shopping centre has also launched a competition to reward someone who has gone out of their way to support the local community this year with £250 to spend on themselves at Surrey Quays as ‘thank you’.
To nominate someone special, you can fill out a form on the shopping centre website: https://www.surreyquays.co.uk/christmas/community-heroes