South Western Railway customers make it a Merry Christmas for the homeless in Clapham

South Western Railway customers make it a Merry Christmas for the homeless in Clapham

Wednesday 19th December 2018
Staff at South Western Railway's Wimbledon station started a Christmas shoe box appeal for the homeless two years ago where customers donated shoe boxes full of items that homeless people might find useful such as toothbrushes and toothpaste; socks; scarves; hats and non-perishable foods. So successful was that campaign, that it was extended to Clapham Junction for 2018 with the Ace of Clubs Homeless Centre in Clapham to receive the gifts.

Thanks to the generosity of customers passing through Clapham Junction, an astonishing 480 fully wrapped boxes full of goodies were donated - including 25 boxes donated by staff working at the station.

presents being delivered by SWR staff to Club of AcesClapham Junction's Duty Station Manager, Fiona Brown was the driving force behind the appeal. She said: "The response from our customers has been nothing short of fantastic. We are all very proud to be helping the homeless once again this Christmas. This will have such a positive impact for the Ace of Clubs charity which does wonderful work – especially at this time of year.”

Ace of Clubs director Andrew Tyers said: "On behalf of the guests at Ace of Clubs I would like to thank the staff and passengers at Clapham Junction station for their amazing generosity and thoughtfulness.

"Two van loads of beautifully wrapped presents were brought to our Day centre last week, and we will distribute them to our guests over the Xmas period. I don't think I have seen 480 presents in one place before!

"We were delighted to be approached by the SWR team at Clapham Junction about the shoe box appeal as it directly links the local community with our guests at Ace of Clubs. We have now had a sneak peak at some of the boxes that were delivered, and they are a lovely combination of the practical (basic mobile phones, pre-loaded oyster cards, socks, nice food, etc), and the personal."

Fiona and a small army of volunteers delivered all 480 boxes to the Clapham charity in time for Christmas, meaning that those attending the centre over the festive period will benefit tremendously from the generosity of South Western Railway customers.

If you want to help homeless and vulnerable people this Christmas, visit aceofclubs.org.uk to make a donation and also to find out about other ways you can get involved

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