Derbyshire woman sews over 1000 items for shoebox appeal after town rallies behind her charity efforts

A woman from Belper has sewed more than 1000 pieces for a shoebox appeal, with the town coming together to contribute to her charity work.
By Tom Hardwick
Published 12th Nov 2021, 12:09 BST
The donations made by the people of Belper will help disadvantaged Eastern European communities.The donations made by the people of Belper will help disadvantaged Eastern European communities.
The donations made by the people of Belper will help disadvantaged Eastern European communities.

Sally Lloyd supports Link to Hope, a charity that works with disadvantaged people in Eastern Europe. She asked locals to donate toys and fabric so she could produce quilts, bags and small sacks of toys for their Christmas shoebox appeal.

She said the response was incredible, and that it showed the generosity of the people of Belper.

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“I put out an appeal for people to donate toys, and it went mad. I was hoping to do 100 toy bags and I ended up doing 600, each with around eight small toys in.

I think it's amazing, it’s so nice to see. Belper has got a very good heart, and I think this just shows that everyone here will pull together- I couldn’t do it without them.”

Mrs Lloyd also produced 40 knee quilts, 160 tote bags and 550 drawstring bags from donations of spare fabric. She has supported Link to Hope since 2004, and said conditions for many in Eastern Europe had not improved in over 40 years.

“I was fortunate enough when I was a student to go on a European tour, which included Romania and what is now Ukraine, and I was horrified at the level of poverty there. That was back in 1976, and sadly, it is not much better now.

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“Link to Hope supports the marginalised by doing things like installing village toilet blocks, running nurseries and organising soup kitchens for the elderly. They’re best known for their shoebox appeal, and in 2019 they sent 45,000 shoeboxes from the UK.”

While LtH occasionally gets negative comments for helping people in places such as Romania, Mrs Lloyd said those the charity helps often receive no support whatsoever in these countries.

“You get the odd comment about Romanians coming over here and sending money back, but that doesn’t happen in these rural communities. Many of the people LtH help are part of the Roma community, and they don't have access to the things that others in Romania and Ukraine have.

“They often can’t read or write and many don't have birth certificates, so they can’t access any help.”

More information about Link to Hope can be found here.

Related topics:BelperDerbyshire