A fundraising drive by the team behind National Highways’ A417 road upgrade is bringing a little joy for children spending Christmas in Gloucestershire’s hospitals.
Contractors Kier Transportation and the National Highways project team behind the A417 Missing Link scheme have adopted the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity as their adopted charity for the duration of the project.
In the run-up to Christmas, Kier and the wider supply chain working on the scheme have been raising funds and receiving donations, and have worked closely with GWAAC to source presents for children of all ages spending their Christmases in hospital.
And last week the A417 team answered the Pied Piper Appeal’s Christmas toy appeal call, dropping off more than 100 individually wrapped gifts at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in Gloucester.
The A417 Father Christmas, The Santa-lorian and a trio of elves hand-delivered the presents to the Children’s Ward and Emily Kent Unit ahead of the big day, and spent time with the children and hospital staff.
The Pied Piper Appeal, Gloucestershire’s leading children’s charity, works tirelessly to fund the Children’s Centre at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and other county hospitals and each year runs a Toy Appeal for children receiving treatment over the festive holidays.
Celine Acard, National Highways Senior Project Manager for the A417 Missing Link scheme, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the GWAAC team to bring some Christmas magic to children sadly having to spend Christmas in hospital.
“We’ve managed to source presents for all age groups, and we hope this toy donation makes a real difference to those youngsters who won’t be able to spend Christmas at home this year.”
Joe Hughes, Strategic Partnerships Manager with the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, said: “The impact from the A417 Missing Link project has been huge for us – we’ve installed public defibrillators for nearby communities, trained people in how to use them alongside bystander CPR, funded a primary school CPR course, and now this. Safe to say Kier and National Highways are on Santa’s good list this year!”
Emma Fawcett, Supporter Engagement Co-ordinator for GWAAC, added: “This lovely initiative is another example of how Kier is helping us make a positive difference in our local area. We can only provide our lifesaving service with community support and we would like to thank Kier for helping us to achieve that.”
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