Funeral Director creates 40 hampers to help ex-servicemen and women in need this Christmas

Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 16/12/2016

A Funeral Director who works for Central England Co-operative has helped create over 40 hampers to support ex-servicemen and women this Christmas.

Janette Macleod, Funeral Director for Oadby and Wigston Funeral Homes, revealed that she had made the incredible donation after being inspired by the work of Once
We Were Solders, a charity that supports ex-members of the Armed forces who are now homeless.

The hampers contained everything from clothes to toiletries and were collected after an appeal on Facebook saw her inundated with donations and offers of support.

Janette said: “The idea to initially support the campaign came from my husband after he was asked by an ex-member of the Armed Forces if he could help out.

“Being an ex-member of the Armed Forces himself, my husband was eager to help and said we were more than willing to gather up some donations for what were, initially, supposed to be a few shoe boxes.

“However, after reaching out via Facebook for support, we were inundated with support and knew we would have more than we would need.

“This was when we decided that we would go further than just providing shoe boxes and instead plumped for re-usable hamper bags.

“Each bag is filled with pants, socks, t-shirts, a hat, scarf, gloves, a pair of jogging bottoms, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, tissues, wet wipes, shampoo, shower gel, deodorants, comb, sponge, chocolate, soup, noodles, biscuits, cake, drinks, pen, pencil and a note pad.

“We have had so many people donating items from ourselves, Central England Co-operative, family, friends, volunteers who run the Open Hands charity in Leicester, and people from the knitwear trade who work with my husband.

“We made up a total of 40 hamper bags. I have been thrilled and very humbled by the response of so many people, especially as many have been ex-service men and women.

“We really hope that the donations from everyone make a difference and improve lives for those in need this Christmas.”

Leicester-based charity Once We Were Soldiers operate across the Midlands and were set up as part of an effort to raise awareness and provide support for ex-servicemen in need.

More details on the charity can be found by visiting http://owwsoldiers.co.uk/

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with projected gross sales of £958million for 2016/17. The Society recently celebrated being named Leading Co-operative of the Year 2016 by Co-operatives UK. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property. The company’s funeral business consists of over 120 funeral homes across 16 counties, 10 florists, masonry production and administration, Bretby Crematorium and Terry Smiths coffin factory.
Central England Co-operative has more than 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including; West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.  The Society has an ambitious food store and funeral home development programme for 2015/16.
Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.  It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence.  The Society supports a number of charities including Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.
For more information visit http://www.centralengland.coop follo,w Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, @mycooplife and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative
Rob Smyth / Jo Baldock at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140
Email – publicrelations@centralengland.coop