A fantastic donation of over £1,000 worth of toys and gifts has made the launch of the 2024 Burnley Together Christmas Present Appeal truly magical.

The presents, which have been kindly donated by Tesco Extra in Centenary Way, were handed over to Burnley Together by Buddy the Elf, aka Mukhtar Mirza, the store’s community champion, who said: “We are delighted to make this presentation to such a marvellous project.

“We are proud to support local causes and the Christmas Present Appeal is absolutely fantastic, bringing so much joy to children across the borough.”

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Buddy the Elf (aka Mukhtar Mirza, the community champion at Tesco Extra in Finsley Gate, Burnley) with the toys the store has donated to the Burnley Together Christmas Present Appeal. Also pictured (left to right) are sales assistant Jonny Cash, Molly Murray, an intern with Burnley Together, Ella Roberts, customer service advisor with Burnley Together, Joe Clarke, People's Partner at Tesco, Team Manager Sandra Cannings and Nicola Larnach, co-ordinator of Burnley Together hub.

placeholder image — Buddy the Elf (aka Mukhtar Mirza, the community champion at Tesco Extra in Finsley Gate, Burnley) with the toys the store has donated to the Burnley Together Christmas Present Appeal. Also pictured (left to right) are sales assistant Jonny Cash, Molly Murray, an intern with Burnley Together, Ella Roberts, customer service advisor with Burnley Together, Joe Clarke, People's Partner at Tesco, Team Manager Sandra Cannings and Nicola Larnach, co-ordinator of Burnley Together hub.

Now in its 29th year the Burnley Express backed appeal was originally set up by the Salvation Army, to make sure that struggling families in the borough had new presents for their children to open on Christmas morning. When the pandemic hit and Salvation Army volunteers had to step back, Burnley Together kindly agreed to take over.

Aimed at children and young people up to the age of 18, each child receives a main gift, a second present, two small gifts and also a selection box. In 2023 4,800 toys and gifts were donated to the appeal which were unwrapped on Christmas Day by 1,208 children in 630 families.

Last year 54 organisations hosted collection boxes for the toys and organisers are hoping that many more will want to be involved again for 2024. They have also put a twist on how they are asking for gifts to be collected by asking organisations to come up with creative ideas of their own to collect gifts. Maybe a ‘santa’s sack’, a Christmas gift box or presents under the Christmas tree?

Nicola Larmach who is the co-ordinator of the Burnley Together hub, said: “What a fantastic start to the appeal with such a wonderful donation from Tesco, we are so grateful.

“The people of Burnley and Padiham always give us so much support for the appeal so we hope that this year’s will be the best Christmas yet.”

The appeal officially launches on Monday (October 28th) and runs until Friday, November 29th. Donations can be dropped off at Down Town in Charter Walk and gift appeal trollies will also be set up in local supermarkets and schools.

After that, volunteers from Burnley Together will be collecting and organising donations Monday to Thursday, December 2nd to the 5th. Referrals are received from support workers and education settings, before being distributed out to families.

Anyone who would like more information is asked to email [email protected]