First Essex colleagues donate Christmas gifts to local Children’s Hospice

First Essex colleagues donate Christmas gifts to local Children’s Hospice

Colleagues at bus operator First Essex’s Basildon Depot have donated Christmas gifts to those receiving care and support at Little Havens children’s hospice, located in Benfleet, Essex.

The gifts, including books, toys, teddies, crafts and toiletry sets, were delivered by First Essex’s own bus driving Santa to the hospice in a special Christmas themed double decker bus.

Little Havens provides specialist care and support for babies, children and young people living with complex or incurable conditions from Essex and the surrounding boroughs.

Aron Lane, Community Fundraiser at Havens Hospices, the charity which Little Havens is a part of, said: “We can’t thank First Essex enough for their incredible ongoing support for Little Havens.

“Little Havens is a charity and Essex’s only children’s hospice - we rely heavily on donations to provide specialist care for hundreds of babies, children and young people living with incurable conditions.

“Please know every toy donated will be making a difference to the families we care for during the festive season. At Christmas Little Havens doesn’t close its doors, we’re there for everybody whenever and wherever they need us.”

First Essex operates over 250 buses across the county and employs around 1,000 people, including bus drivers, engineers and support staff.

Jo Cannon, Staff and Performance Manager at First Essex’s Basildon depot and one of the organisers of the toy drive, said: “We really wanted to give something back to a worthwhile cause in our community this Christmas, and when we heard about the incredible work that Little Havens does it was an obvious choice.

“Our drivers, engineers and office support staff in Basildon have done a wonderful job gathering toys for the incredible young people that Little Havens supports, and I’d like to take this opportunity to them all for their generosity.”

For more information on Little Havens, or to make donation, then please visit www.havenshospices.org.uk.