Healthy injection of good cheer boosts health centre

The Health Centre, which runs services for the community, such as speech therapy, physiotherapy and antenatal services, was hit badly in the 2015 floods. The entire ground floor was under water and the Centre lost vital equipment, as well as all its everyday items.

“We realised that when we re-open we no longer have a Christmas tree or any decorations,” said Office Administrator Elizabeth Allison. “They may not seem like important items, but they really do help brighten the place up during the festive season,” she added.

Speech and Language Therapist Louise Nasir added: “Many of the services we provide are for children and the elderly and at this time of year everyone likes to see Christmas trees and decorations, but financially replacing the tree wasn’t something we felt we could do as the NHS don’t have a Christmas decoration budget.”

The Flood Support and Fundraising Group, which is the group run by Kirsty Perkins and members of the community and formed shortly after the floods to help residents and businesses replace items and source services, got in touch with the Health Centre to offer some money to replace their lost decorations.

“We knew that the Health Centre was due to re-open on the 19 December and we really wanted to help them to feel festive again. I think after the floods last year, one of the most common items seen in skips were Christmas trees, so many people lost all of their decorations and they can be really costly things to replace when starting from scratch,” said Kirsty.

The Group teamed up with local author Tony Morgan, whose novel Remember, Remember the 6th November, about Guy Fawkes and an alternate timeline to the events that happened on the 5 November. Tadcaster Bridge makes a guest appearance, with Guy Fawkes taking a stroll over it.

Tony donated profits from his book to the Flood Support Group and they saw it as the perfect opportunity to replace lost items.

“Having seen the brilliant community spirit in the town, I am delighted to donate the profits from the book to such a great cause,” said Tony.

The tree and its trimmings were bought locally at Allens Ironmongers, helping support another Tadcaster business hit by the floods.

“Seeing the money used in local shops to help spread some festive cheer is fantastic,” added Tony.

The Manager of Allens Ironmongers, Martin Raggett, provided the items at a discounted rate.

He said: “It’s a lovely thing to do and we are just really happy to be able to do our bit.”