Easter egg donation appeal for refuge

Abbey Park School, Swindon Domestic Abuse Support Service (SDASS) and North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson came together for a special event to launch this year’s Easter Egg Collection.

For the third year, Mr Tomlinson and SDASS are joining forces to collect Easter eggs for families living in the refuge or supported by the organisation in the community.

While many of us can enjoy the beginning of Spring and the Easter period, for families living in the refuge or otherwise supported by SDASS things are a little less bright.

To bring some springtime happiness, the MP and SDASS are launching an Easter Egg Appeal and are asking for people to donate chocolate Easter eggs. In turn, the donations will be distributed to families supported by SDASS.

This year, for the first time, Abbey Park School are joining the appeal and asking pupils and parents to contribute to the collection – along with other schools from the Park Academy Trust: Red Oaks Primary, Orchid Vale Primary, Bridlewood Primary and Highworth Warneford School.

To kick-start the collection a special event was held at Abbey Park School, with Year 7 pupils and the Year 11 Leadership Team meeting Emma Maclennan from SDASS and Mr Tomlinson to learn more about the campaign and its importance.

It was also an opportunity for Emma to talk about the wider work of SDASS, how they support victims of domestic abuse and the educational work they carry out with young people.

Mr Tomlinson also took a range of questions from students on different topics including how he supports local organisations like SDASS, why young people should vote, and issues around MPs' security.

He said “I am delighted that Abbey Park School has joined the campaign; it is an excellent opportunity to maximise the number of donations we receive.

"I want to say a big thank you to Alex O’Brien at Abbey Park School for reaching out and suggesting the school join the campaign.

"It was a pleasure to meet the students, they were incredibly engaged, and I was very impressed with the questions they asked – they were a real credit to the school.

"I really would encourage people to consider picking up an extra Easter egg to donate to the campaign, it really will brighten up someone’s day.”

Emma Maclennan, Children and Young Person Manager at SDASS, said: “It was a pleasure to be at the launch of the Easter Egg Collection at Abbey Park School with Justin Tomlinson MP today.

"I thoroughly enjoyed meeting a group of year 7 and year 11 students who enthusiastically asked Justin and I impromptu and insightful questions.

"I was delighted to have the opportunity to share the variety of services that SDASS offer, and in particular tell them about the work we are doing with schools in Swindon to promote healthy relationships.

"Thank you so much to Abbey Park for having me and to Justin for his continued support of the charity. I know the children at our refuge (Jenni's House) will be amazed when the Easter Bunny arrives!”

Alex O’Brien from Abbey Park School said: “We were delighted to welcome Justin Tomlinson MP, Emma Maclennan from Swindon Women's Aid and Councillor Daniel Adams to Abbey Park School to launch our joint TPAT Easter Egg Collection for families supported by Swindon Women's Aid.

"We are very proud of our Y11 Student Leaders and Y7 Students who thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to ask many insightful questions about the role of an MP and the important work of Swindon Women's Aid, helping to strengthen our APS links with key community groups.”

Donations can be dropped off at Justin’s Community Office on the first floor of the Orbital Shopping Park customer service hub.

The office is open between 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.

Donations can also be left with the Park Academy Trust schools (Abbey Park, Red Oaks Primary, Orchid Vale Primary, Bridlewood Primary and Highworth Warneford School).

Donations must be received by Friday 22 March