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Santa receives a kiss from Yvonne Scriven and her cat Silly Tilly Tuppence
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Delivered with a kiss
THE festive season at the New Journal would not be the same without a fun-filled day delivering hampers to Camden’s less-well-off – and this year was no exception.
The “hamper-mobile”, filled with Marks and Spencer goodies bought with kind-hearted readers’ cash, brought joy to pensioners and single parents.
First visit for Father Christmas, in the shape of the New Journal’s Obi Jilani, was to Somers Town pensioner Nell Woolner, 82.
Her daughter, Yvonne Scriven, who requested the hamper for her mother, said: “She will be in her glory. It will make her day.”
Next on the hamper trail were friends Nadine Christian and Alfie Macleod, who met after Mr Macleod spotted Ms Christian wandering near his Oakley Square home in Somers Town. He said: “She looked a bit depressed so I started to speak to her.”
Then it was over to Platt Street, also in Somers Town, to meet Angeliki Fereou, 84, whose rheumatoid arthritis has left her housebound for five years.
Her daughter, Nitsa Skeffington, who nominated her for a hamper, said: “Although she’s not alone she hardly goes out and I felt she deserved one anyway. She never complains.”
Mrs Fereou’s husband George raises money for the hamper fund every year at All Saints church in Pratt Street, Camden Town, where he is a parishioner.
For Frances Day, 96, a retired number 24 bus conductress who has lived in Gospel Oak all her life, her hamper was a Christmas Eve surprise, delivered by her niece Gladys Hill, 79, from Kentish Town.
Hampers also brought a smile to the faces of lucky youngsters – and their mothers.
Radha Jenkins and her friend Itto Hoppé put in requests for hampers to add a little sparkle to their children’s festive season.
But Ms Jenkins’ daughter, Helena, 9, thought it a bit unfair as “mum doesn’t have presents”.
Ms Hoppé, who has a 14-month-old son, Plando, and lives in Fellows Road, Swiss Cottage, said: “It’s an extra for me. It’s been quite a tough year – it’s my first year having a baby and my mother’s been unwell for the last few months.”
Over in West Hampstead, pensioner Flora Pike called the hamper “a miracle”.
The retired nurse, who lives in West End Lane, said: “It’s changing my life and making me feel happy.”
The 71-year-old grandmother, from Sierra Leone, added: “Maybe my luck will change for the new year.”
Another hamper recipient, Joan Goodall, a grandmother of 14 and great-grandmother of 13, was waiting for Santa in the doorway of her flat in Clarence Way, Kentish Town.
As Santa rounded the corner, a snow-melting smile spread across the face of the 82-year-old retired nurse.
She said: “Give me a kiss. Thank you – the hamper means a lot to me.”
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