You help us spread some seasonal spirit and load Santa down with hampers

’TIS the season of peace and goodwill to all men – and nothing demonstrates that better than the generosity of New Journal readers, who dipped into their pockets once again for our annual hamper appeal.
For the single parent struggling to provide for their children, the recently widowed or the single elderly man or woman, Christmas can be a painfully bleak time of year.
The New Journal’s hamper appeal was set up 25 years ago with exactly these citizens in mind. It’s a way of showing that other people care – and this year we were able to do that better than ever.
From councillors who happily dipped into their pockets to the sponsored pub quiz organised by our friends at the Oxford Arms in Camden High Street, Camden Town, to the single parent we helped in a previous year but who this year donated £100, the donations came flooding in.
All in all, we managed to raise more than £5,000 in donations which meant that a record 260 luxury hampers – courtesy of Marks and Spencer in Camden High Street – found their way around the borough.
Many were distributed to organisations and community centres like the Highgate Newtown and West Hampstead Community Centres, the Camden Town Neighbourhood Advice Centre and the London Irish Centre. Many more were given to Camden’s hard working social services teams to distribute to families and individuals desperately in need.
And as many as possible were saved for readers who wrote in to us with heart-wrenching pleas for a happier Christmas.
So, a big thank you once again from all of us at the New Journal – on behalf of all those who received a hamper this year thanks to your generosity.
And very special thank you to the kind folk at the Oxford Arms and Marks and Spencer, to our own resident Santa – Illtyd Harrington – and our distribution manager, Don Ryan for their hard work.

and a special thanks to...

RM Bacharach, Miss N Bickel, Mr D Blain, Miss GY Brazier Potter, I Buckley, DV Bullock, Cllr Pat Callaghan, Dr IC Cannon, Mrs C Cannon, Mrs Elizabeth Cawley, Mrs PJ Clarke, Mr M Cooper and Mrs Shirley Cooper, SC Copsey, Miss L Cripps, Mr P Cuming, Mrs P Dallimore, Mr E Davies, Mrs LB Davies, Mr F and Mrs N Donohue, Ms B Drew, Dublin Castle, AF Vargas, Mrs P Farragher, Mrs RM Faville, Miss G I Fenemore-Jones, SM Fischer, J Fisher, Mrs M Flanagan, Ms A Forstater, Ms C Freniere, Frances de Freitas, L Gadgil, K Gillies, Ms L Greaves, Cllr D Green, Katherine Hallgarten, Cllr Harriet Garland, Mrs E Hall, GT Harrison and Mrs E Harrison, Lady Selina Hastings, Mrs M Hoffner, MS RS Lewin, Mrs A Menkes-Ivry, EE Jenner, Mr PA Jivens, Mrs Keegan, Key Productions Ltd, Mrs DA Kilcullen, Dr AT Klouda and Mrs L Klouda, Cllr Deirdre Krymer, Miss EA Lamb, Miss L Leonard, A W and Mrs P Lessin, Cllr Andrew Marshall, Mrs GP Martis, D L & J M Mathews, Miss I McCalman, Miss Margaret C McGing, Miss EP McPeake, Cllr John Mills, M Mitchell, Cllr Keith Moffit, Miss Claire Murat, R Nahum, P Nahum, Miss PB Nicholson, Mrs S O’Connell, The Oxford Arms, N Payn, Jonquill Phelan, Mrs S Plowden, PD Potter, F Powers, Philippa C Price, Cllr Abdul Qadir, Mrs JS Ramsay, Cllr Rea, Ms E Rennie Peyton, Lucy Reese, Cllr Jane Roberts, Cllr Roger Robinson, Mr T Rogers, AM Rowe, AW Ryan, Mrs VF Salmon, Mr JA Simpson, Cllr Smith, Mr GE Stone and Mrs MM Stone, Miss V Stourton, Mrs AC Struthers, Mr S Sufit and Mrs W Sufit, RJ Taylor and Mrs H Taylor, Cllr Heather Thompson, M Traub, Jim Turner, Cllr Turner, Mr VP and Mrs D Vanpelt, Cllr Vincent, Mr C Wade, E Wagner, J Wagner, Mr AJP Wills, Miss CA Wilson, Cllr Brian Woodrow, Miss RB Young – and all our anonymous donors