Award-winning initiative that gives hundreds of Christmas hampers to the elderly says 2026 is ‘hardest year’

The founder of a multi-award-winning initiative, which gives hundreds of hampers to the elderly and families every Christmas, says 2026 has been the “hardest year for donations”.

This all began with Paris Robinson, her husband and their 10 and 12-year-old sons who continue to give back to the Brixworth community. As the number of parcels grows year-on-year, members of the community step in to play their part.

Paris was inspired by her mother, who created and gave out hampers in Harlestone, and wanted to start a similar project in her own area.

As the founder of a cleaning company, Paris explained that she sees many older people on their own at Christmas time and she wanted to do something to put smiles on their faces.

The initiative makes a huge difference to people’s Christmases, with the parcels packed to the brim with items that have all been donated by generous businesses or individuals.

The way it works is that recipients must be nominated by someone else from the Brixworth community, and they all attend a coffee morning to collect their gifts. Once nominated, the individual remains on the list every year.

Paris was proudly given two awards for her generosity earlier this year – the outstanding individual award from Brixworth Parish Council and a Rose of Northamptonshire award – and 2026 impressively marks nine years of this initiative.

“We’re asking for help as this year has been the hardest for donations,” Paris told the Chronicle & Echo. “We’re giving away 250 parcels to the elderly and we’ve upped it to 25 parcels for families, all from the village.

“We know people are struggling and times are tough now more than ever. We’ve sent thousands of emails, been into shops and have posters in the windows in the village.”

Paris is calling for all donations to be dropped off during the week of November 21, with the hampers to be packaged up on November 27 ready to be handed out at the annual coffee morning the following day.

This is taking place from 9am until 11am on November 28 at The George Inn, which Paris praised as a massive donation in itself from the generous venue. The parcels belonging to those who cannot make it will be delivered to their homes.

“Any food is essential really and it doesn’t have to be festive themed,” said Paris. “It could be gravy, mince pies, Christmas pudding, tinned items or cupboard items. Not every hamper will be the same.

“It’s amazing and very emotional that this has been going on for nine years. My boys are 12 and 10, and I started this when I had a baby and a two-year-old. Now they are coming out on the vans, delivering and they come to the coffee morning. Last year was their first time and it was special to have them by my side.

“They’re the two, who for the last six weeks, have been going out shopping every Monday and Thursday with our cash and cheque donations. I owe them a lot.

“This all makes a huge difference. The years we didn’t do the coffee morning in Covid, it showed how massive it is to interact, even if it’s only for two hours. Some of the elderly had been waiting for us and hadn’t seen anyone other than supermarket delivery drivers.”

Anyone interested in getting involved or making a donation of items can email founder Paris Robinson on [email protected].