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Riverside residents have early 'boxing day'


By David G Scott

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IT might seem more than unusual to have a boxing day before Christmas but if you're a resident of Riverside House in Wick then it was all part of getting in the festive spirit and involved filling boxes with goodies for people struggling in poverty abroad.

Staff and residents at the care home got together to fill the charity boxes for the Blythswood Christmas Shoebox Appeal and sent away 12 last week.

The boxes are filled with useful gifts such as toiletries, toys, sweets and stationery along with small items of clothing which are given to children and adults in countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Ukraine.

Riverside House care home residents Bill Backhouse and Margaret Mackenzie with the charity boxes they filled. Picture: DGS
Riverside House care home residents Bill Backhouse and Margaret Mackenzie with the charity boxes they filled. Picture: DGS

Donna Grant, manager at Riverside House, said: "This is the first year we've done it as a group in the home.

"Staff have done it before but we thought we'd get the residents involved this year and get them to pack the boxes and help pick what was going into them."

Donna said she had seen similar Blythswood charity box appeals on social media done by local groups and so ordered some boxes online. "We went out and bought locally around the shops here about three weeks ago using money from the home.

"There were 12 boxes in total that we did and next year we'll aim for a lot more and get more residents and their relatives involved. It's a good start, though, and a nice Christmasy thing to do."

Bill Backhouse and Margaret Mackenzie are two of the residents who helped fill the boxes and were happy to pose for a festive fun photograph.

Margaret said: "It's really such a good cause and all for people who are not as well off as we are."


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