Buckie sends boxes of festive love to Romania

THE Covid pandemic has hit Buckie hard but it has not dimmed the spirit of kindness to others as the festive season approaches.

Volunteers at the Buckie Blythswood Care's Christmas shoebox appeal have been left overwhelmed with the generosity shown by local people, both in terms of shoeboxes filled and cash donations.

Buckie Blythswood Support Group organiser George Flett said: "Thanks to the generosity of people from Portsoy to Lossiemouth as well as those living in the Buckie area we have been able to send 1400 to our HQ in Evanton where they will head for Eastern Europe.

"In addition to the sealed gift envelopes we have received we hope to be able to send a cheque for £2000 to Blythswood which is substantially higher than would normally be the case. This money will go to help towards the cost of transporting the shoeboxes.

"We're all absolutely delighted with the response to the appeal this year. Our total is not far down on last year's but this time around we're in the middle of a pandemic with many people facing hard times.

"At the beginning of our campaign this year we didn't know if we'd even get 1000 shoeboxes or, for that matter, even be allowed to do it at all if the regulations had changed.

"I'd like to thank all those who supported us, whether it was by donating filled shoeboxes or material to fill shoeboxes or for monetary donations.

"I'd also like to thank the team of volunteers who worked so hard to make this possible. We had to bring in big changes to the way we worked this year due to Covid. Normally we'd have a team of around 40 but this year we had to work in small teams with a the total number of volunteers coming to about 20."

Mr Flett went on to voice Buckie Blythswood Support Group's gratitude to the Buckie Baptist Church for allowing the use of their hall and to Buckie Methodist Church for providing the tables.

This year the shoeboxes from Buckie and the surrounding area are destined for Romania where they will bring some Christmas joy to some of the poorest people in Europe.

Each shoebox is made up with a specific recipeint in mind, categorised by both gender and age.

Shoeboxes contain small, non-perishable items such as toiletries, gloves and the like while the ones for children often contain small toys or stationery.

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