Personnel at HMS Collingwood have joined forces to donate boxes of toys and advent calendars to The Rainbow Centre in Fareham.
The idea behind this came from Leading Physical Trainer (LPT) Regaina Cawley, who, together with her PT colleagues set up a Christmas Charity Drive for The Rainbow Centre which supports children with Cerebral Palsy through cognitive education.
The team requested donations of educational toys/toys and advent calendars for the children.
On the coldest morning of the winter thus far, Regaina took three large boxes of gifts to the centre, presenting them to Yvonne Campbell, Senior Community Fundraiser who said “We were totally blown away by the amount of items that had been collected by HMS Collingwood, and so much thought had been put into the variety of educational items that our children could use.
"The visit really was a wonderful start to the Rainbow festive season.”
Helping Yvonne take some of the advent calendars into the children in the Parents and Toddlers group Regaina said “The reactions and looks on their faces is all the reward we could have ever wanted.
"It was such a heartwarming and humbling moment when one of the children who was crying uncontrollably immediately ceased when he received his Avengers advent calendar. The simplest things can make a world of a difference to a child.”
Regaina decided to do this because she felt that the contribution that the Centre makes towards improving the life of children within the community with specific disabilities was great and the gifts would not only brighten their season but also that of their dedicated parents.
HMS Collingwood has long had an affiliation with The Rainbow Centre, which inspires and supports children with Cerebral Palsy and adults who have had suffered strokes or have MS, Parkinson’s, and adult Cerebral Palsy or head injury, together with their families.
The Centre relies on a lot of volunteers to help, not only with the Conductive Education sessions, but also with fundraising, admin tasks, staffing their three charity shops and even maintaining the building and gardens at the Centre.
