Funeral firm’s festive appeal for foodbank
STAFF at a Derbyshire funeral directors have pledged to raise money to help their local food bank after teaming up with a local church and town council to launch an outdoor, Covid-safe version of their annual Christmas tree appeal.
Gillotts Funeral Directors in Heanor has rung the changes for its Christmas Tree Remembrance Appeal for 2020 by working in partnership with St Lawrence’s Church and Heanor and Loscoe Town Council to ensure that the fundraiser can still go ahead.
Every year the company, in Abbott Street, invites relatives to hang messages of remembrance dedicated to those they have lost throughout the year on a Christmas tree at each branch and donates £1 for every message to charity.
However, social distancing restrictions mean the company is not able to allow families to step inside this year but instead will be able to hang their messages on the branches of a 20ft tree at St Lawrence’s in Church Street.
The tree has been decorated with ribbons and special Gillotts baubles, while the lights have been provided by the town council.
Alternatively, families will be able to send in their messages to Gillotts’ office and staff will write them onto labels and attach them to the tree on their behalf.
Gillotts’ Heanor office is one of five branches run by the firm, which has decided this year to share the proceeds equally with food banks in each of the towns it operates in, including St Andrew’s Foodbank, at St Andrew’s Church, Langley Mill.
St Lawrence’s is also giving worshippers and local residents the opportunity to hang coloured ribbons on the tree as their own way of offering a prayer or thoughts, with each colour signifying a different sentiment, such as green for hope, red for celebration and gold for thanks.
Anthony Topley, a partner at Gillotts, said: “Our Christmas Tree Remembrance Appeal has become an important part of our company calendar but, sadly, there was no way for us to hold it in the usual way because of the need to keep everybody safe and well.
“This has been such a difficult time for everybody and we felt it would be a sorry state of affairs if we had to cancel it, so we’re therefore delighted that St Lawrence’s and the town council have worked with us to erect a full-size tree for their messages.
“We felt that it was only right for us to donate the money raised to our five nearest food banks which will be keeping local families from going hungry this year and which deserve our support in this year of all years.”
The Rev Lisa Shemilt, vicar at St Lawrence’s, said: “Despite the challenges of the past few months, our communities have demonstrated wonderful creativity and resourcefulness and our partnership with Gillotts and the town council is a wonderful example of how something good can come out of difficult circumstances.
“I know how important it is for families to remember their departed loved ones at Christmas, so I’m really pleased that their messages will be hung on the same branches as our ribbons, which will represent our town’s prayers and hopes, while helping to raise money to help families facing hardships this Christmas.”
Families can leave their messages of remembrance on the tree by visiting www.gillotts.co.uk/christmas20