If the election results have you feeling blue, we have just the holiday cheer needed to warm your heart.
For the past year, 80-year-old Fran Clark has been putting together 500 shoeboxes with nifty trinkets that she will gift to homeless shelters and children’s organisations during Christmas.
The mother-of-two and grandmother has been called a ‘real-life Santa’ because of the joy she is spreading with her lovely project for people in need.
Fran has spent an hour every day making the boxes, which are decorated in festive wrapping paper and filled with items that she finds from charity shops and local groups, such as soap, flannels and toothbrushes.
The kind-hearted woman from Hengrove, Bristol, first began making the boxes when she moved into a care home, away from her family, four years ago.
Fran felt lonely, but her spirits were soon lifted as she spotted an advert for a gift appeal in a church magazine, and set out to make a difference to other people’s lives.
The gifts differ depending on the intended recipient; adults receive some clothes, dominoes and a pack of card, as well as the aforementioned toiletries.
Children, however, get treats such as toys, dolls, books and colouring pencils.
She said: ‘My son used to live opposite me, so him and my grandchildren used to come over every day, but once I moved they couldn’t visit me as often.
‘I initially felt lonely, but then I saw an advertisement about a shoe box appeal in a church magazine and I thought it was a great idea.
‘I was given a room upstairs to work on the shoe boxes, and it has really helped me keep busy.’
Fran receives the boxes from a local shoe shop called Pavers, located in The Galleries, and she’s well-known among the team.
They will set aside 15 boxes for her to collect every week.
‘Fran comes in regularly to collect shoe boxes and she always brightens up the day letting us know they’re being used for a good cause!’, said store manager William Jacob.
As for the contents of the boxes, Fran spends around £5 for each one (that’s around £2,500 for the entire year’s haul).
She pays for a lot of it herself, but also receives charitable contributions.
Just like Santa Claus, Fran has a set of helpers, including friends and workers at the care home, Brunelcare’s ABC Centre, where Fran lives.
They help her put together the boxes and some also donate items.
The gifts are then picked up by charities around the holidays and once they’re gone, Fran takes a short break – but not for long.
There’s no rest for ‘Mother Christmas’, she’s back to making next year’s boxes in January.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/12/16/worlds-sweetest-grandmother-fills-500-shoeboxes-christmas-presents-people-need-11913539/
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