Children and elderly patients of a Hampshire hospital can expect an eggs-tra special Easter this year, thanks to kind-hearted colleagues from the nearby Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks' (SSEN) Customer Contact Centre.
Having established a food bank donation scheme at the start of the year, the team from the SSEN office in Havant set their sights on bringing a brighter Easter to the patients of the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham and sent out an appeal to their colleagues to donate the chocolate treats ahead of the Bank Holiday.
While expectations were running high for donations, the group have far egg-ceeded their target, with 130 chocolate eggs gifted by SSEN staff; meaning that a Havant based food bank and a local charity, MUNCH Pantry, which has been making dinners for school children during holidays, will also receive a share to distribute to their local communities.
SSEN's Customer Contact Centre Manager, Lorraine Barber was part of the team already using her spare time to collect and distribute items to local foodbanks, and has been instrumental in setting up the company's Easter egg collection.
Lorraine said:
"It's hard not to be dazzled by the variety of Easter eggs on so many supermarket shelves as we've been doing our weekly shop and gathering additional items for our food bank donations, but we realised that some people who would be in hospital during this time might miss out and decided to set up an additional donation box.
"We've been overwhelmed by the generosity of our colleagues, who have donated enough Easter eggs to enable us to gift them to the Queen Alexandra Hospital's wards for both young and elderly patients, and still have enough left over to donate to a further two great, local causes."
She continued:
"There are few things nicer than making someone smile, so if you have the opportunity, please think about donating an Easter egg to your local charity, food bank, a hospital or hospice, or even a neighbour living alone or isolating."
A small group of volunteers from the SSEN Customer Contact Centre will distribute the Easter eggs ahead of the weekend, while ensuring they adhere to the Government's guidance on social distance, enhanced hygiene and PPE.