Rushden family giving something back every day during Christmas countdown

This is the third year that Ruth Williams and Sarah Howard, along with Maddie, nine, Reece, 12, Kayleigh, 14, and Aaron, who is 31 and has learning difficulties, have been giving something back in the run-up to Christmas.

The idea behind it was to teach the children about giving rather than being focused on what they receive at Christmas, as well as showing them that even the smallest gestures can make a big difference.

Ruth and Sarah said: “Basically we find 24 causes that we can contribute to where a difference can be made.

“The children each donate the cost of a Christmas present from their wish list, and the grown-ups decided to do this instead of buying each other presents.

“The money saved gets spent on food for the foodbanks, refreshment packages for hospices, presents for children and the elderly in hospital over christmas.

“We make cakes for care home residents and the homeless.

“We gave art supplies to a nursery, and games and toys to a youth club.

“We also do ‘Heroes for Heroes’ where we give tubs of chocolates to people who do things for us like the emergency services, librarians, refuse collectors, road sweepers and so on.

“We also took biscuits to the people who man the local Samaritans’ phone lines.”

The family has supported good causes across the county, including in Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden, Finedon, Brixworth and Northampton.

This year’s recipients include Chelsea’s Angels in Irthlingborough, Corby ambulance station, Rush 2The Den, Rhymetime day nursery in Rushden, Irthlingborough food bank, Wellingborough police station and Lakelands Hospice in Corby.

But there are still a few more days to go, and people can keep up-to-date with each day’s good deed by searching for @ourspecial24 on Facebook.