Haverhill group’s Christmas gift appeal for children attracts twice as many donations as before

An appeal for Christmas presents for disadvantaged children in Haverhill has resulted in double the amount of donations being received when compared to 2022.

The Matilda Rose Gift Appeal has seen an estimated £10,000 worth of presents being donated – with a number of those coming from people that were themselves beneficiaries of the same appeal last year.

The appeal is run by the Matilda Rose Action Squad – a group that was first set up in Haverhill in 2020 to help people struggling during the Covid pandemic.

The action squad has since gone on to hold a number of different appeals, including helping the people affected by turmoil in countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as, more locally, providing proms clothing and accessories and addressing knife crime.

The founder of the volunteer group, Jamie Nunn, who owns the Matilda Rose nails and beauty salon in Haverhill, from which its name derives, said of the Christmas appeal: “The community support, the Haverhill community, has been amazing

“I think we are probably looking at £10,000 worth of donations and gifts.

“I would say, I think the last time we counted them, over 400 gift bags and each one has five presents in them.

“It’s a lot more than usual. It kind of grows each year but it’s just over double what we did last year, which is amazing.

“It’s all so positive. It really is so positive. It was such a small idea that has grown massively.

“It’s a bit humbling really, especially when you go right back to initially, when we were just helping people because of Covid and it was meant to be short term.”

Jamie praised his team of volunteers, who have all sorted through the donated gifts – for new-borns through to 18-year-olds – wrapped them and delivered them.

The salon and The Works in Haverhill were used as drop-off points for donations.

One of his employees, Nadia Mulgrave, also came up with the idea of using some of the cash donations received to buy items in the January sales that could be added to the Christmas appeal when it runs in 2024. The move would enable them to provide even more presents next time.

The recipients of the gifts have been identified with the help of the schools in Haverhill and the social services and children’s services.