200 turkey dinners with all the trimmings and a dessert will be hand delivered by colleagues on Christmas Eve to customers across the city, whilst hundreds of families have been surprised in the lead up to Christmas with an assortment of gifts including toys, selection boxes, board games and gift sets.
Our Christmas appeal ‘Your Gentoo Christmas’, now onto its seventh year is just one way we give back to customers at this time of year and it continues to grow each year.
Louise Bassett, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“I have once again been blown away by the generosity of colleagues and partners. To know we have supported hundreds of customers in need with a gift or hot dinner on Christmas Day is truly fantastic. This small act of kindness will make a huge difference to our customers in need across the city.
“On behalf of Gentoo, I would like to thank all our partners and colleagues who have made our Christmas appeal a huge success once again this year.”
The campaign wouldn’t have been possible without support from Sunderland City Council and our partners Adderstone Living, Protective Wear Supplies, Bell Group, MRI Software, KM Electrical Services Ltd, 0800 Repair, Safe Strip UK Ltd, MGM Construction and Equans.
Peter Galbraith, Director at Adderstone Living who sponsored the Christmas dinner deliveries, said:
“We are delighted to support this meaningful campaign and help the great team at Gentoo to spread some Christmas cheer to their customers.
“We hope the donation of a hot Christmas lunch puts a smile on the faces of many. Enjoy and have a fantastic Christmas!”
As part of the ‘Your Gentoo Christmas’ campaign we took 200 customers to watch the Christmas pantomime at the Sunderland Empire thanks to a partnership with Isoler.
We are also hosting a free festive family fun day for more than 1000 customers at the Beacon of Light on Monday 23 December.
