From delivering five Christmas dinners to financially-challenged families to more than 750 in 11 years

That year five families received deliveries. The idea was created by Darren Greenaway who came from a financially challenged background and was looking for ways to keep his staff busy in his estate agency during the quietest time of the year.

Over the past eleven years, things have certainly evolved and grown. In fact, they have grown so much that the estate agency now has its own registered charity, The Greenaway Foundation. This Christmas the foundation is predicting deliveries will be made to over 750 families.

Several years ago, the charity introduced the wishing tree, so many of the children from the families can make a wish for a specific present (up to the value of £25). These wishes are then wrapped, labelled and delivered along with the fresh food on the morning of Christmas Eve.

To achieve optimum results, The Greenaway Foundation try to completely involve the local community. Items of food are sponsored by companies and most of the wishes are sponsored by members of the general public. The tasks of getting the deliveries ready and being delivered in a timely fashion are carried out by local volunteers. Oriel High School for the past few years have been the host of the event and have been instrumental in the charity’s growth.

If you would like to get involved, then there are a variety of ways that you can do so. To volunteer as an Elf (helper) or a Reindeer (delivery person), you can email [email protected], however Reindeer will need a sleigh (car).

Sponsoring a wish (present) can be done in one of several ways. Either pop into a local office of Greenaway Residential Estate Agents and collect a snowflake which will have a child’s wish on it, go and buy the present and bring it back. This is often a great way for parents to teach their children about the Christmas spirit of giving. Or donations can be made via the charities go fund me page, or again by contacting a local branch of Greenaway Residential Estate Agents.

If you own a company and would like to sponsor an item of food or make a donation for a wish(es) then please email [email protected]