Bristol industrial estate landlords SEGRO have presented Samaritans Purse with the keys to Unit 58 at the Beeches industrial estate in Yate as the charity geared up for its annual Operation Christmas Child campaign.
The mammoth effort involves dispatching millions of gifts to disadvantaged children around Eastern Europe.
SEGRO, which owns the Bristolworks cluster of commercial and industrial parks in and around the city, is providing the charity with an industrial unit for six to eight weeks to handle the massive logistical effort involved.
The largest children’s Christmas appeal in the UK, Operation Christmas Child invites people to pack a shoebox with small, inexpensive gifts suitable for a boy or girl in three age bands and wrap it in Christmas paper ready to open on Christmas Day.
Organiser Jenny Lippiatt who runs the Bristol appeal said the charity would simply not be able to function without SEGRO’s input.
Jenny said: “Having a storage facility at the Beeches right next to the motorway network is a genuine lifesaver for the charity. We are looking at around 14,000 boxes which will need storing ready for dispatch. I don’t know what we would do without SEGRO’s generous contribution as the logistical burden would be a nightmare.”
Some 200 volunteers across Bristol and the West are involved with the Operation Christmas Child effort. The charity operates from St Chad’s church in Patchway where batches of shoeboxes filled with child friendly goodies collected by schools, churches, businesses and hotels are boxed up and sent to the warehouse for storage.
An articulated lorry then collects the stamped and sealed cartons ready for distribution around the city of Minsk in Belarus – delivering a range of presents including pens, paper, toys, sweets clothing and games.
More than 40 volunteers from local organisations including Rolls Royce, Ashfield Young Offenders centre and Samaritans Purse gave up their time to load the first batch of 922 cartons containing 8,921 shoeboxes.
Jenny said: “The amazing thing was the driver was Polish and we would have had to rely on sign language if it wasn’t for the fact the lady who brought our volunteer loaders from the YOI in Pucklechurch could speak Polish as well.”
She went on: “Belarus suffers from very serious unemployment leading to tragic situations where children are sent to special schools and orphanages because their parents cannot look after them.”
The deal to let the warehouse to the charity was struck by Colliers International on behalf of landlords SEGRO.
Head of Colliers International’s Bristol office Tim Davies said: “We are delighted to be able to provide a storage facility large enough to help the charity mount this crucial Christmas aid mission.
”The delivery operation wouldn’t get off the ground if the organisers had to try and organise collection from their base at St Chad’s as it simply isn’t big enough to accommodate the number of shoeboxes involved – not to mention the articulated lorry needed to transport them.”
Gareth Osborn from SEGRO added: “It’s amazing to see the way the whole community has come together to help from collecting the shoeboxes to seeing them packed up and then dispatched from the unit.
“It was great to see so many volunteers giving up their spare time to work hard loading the lorry for its mission back east and we were delighted to be able to help.”
SEGRO owns and operates four industrial estates under the BristolWorks banner – the Beeches, in Yate; Ashton Vale in South Liberty Lane, Ashton; Emerald Park, Emersons Green and Pucklechurch Trading Estate. In total the estates offer more than one million sq ft of industrial space and the success of the Bristolworks brand has assisted SEGRO and their agents in securing successful lettings.
