15-year-old collects 373 presents for Horsham Salvation Army Appeal

15-year-old Heeta Vijaykumar from Crawley has a passion for charity work, having recently done some volunteering which she found really rewarding.

Heeta then set her sights on Christmas and came across The Salvation Army as she looked for a charity helping children.

The Salvation Army in Horsham is once again helping hundreds of families in need this Christmas in Horsham and surrounding areas, providing toys and gifts for children, a treat for parents and a voucher to provide Christmas dinner for the whole family. This year the church and charity has helped nearly 360 families and made a difference to more than a thousand people across the area.

Having set herself a target of sourcing 200 gifts, Heeta set about putting together marketing materials to spread the words to other people, creating a video and a PowerPoint which helped her explain what she needed and why.  Heeta was delighted with the results and a few weeks later was able to deliver 373 presents to Major Iain Stewart at The Salvation Army.

Majors Ann and Iain Stewart, who lead The Salvation Army in Horsham, and their team of volunteers, have been working tirelessly to meet demand following referrals from local schools and support agencies. However they would not have been able to help so many families without such a high level of donations from local people.

Major Iain said: “Heeta is a shining example of the way local people step up every year to join The Salvation Army in helping make Christmas a time of joy for people who might otherwise have been unable to celebrate. We’re really grateful for her enterprise and support”

Heeta is continuing to look for ways to volunteer in the local community and reflecting on her hard work to gather gifts for Christmas appeal said:

“It’s all worth it in the end.”

The Salvation Army in Horsham, located on Booth Way near Horsham station is inviting the local community to come along to an outdoor – indoor if weather is bad – carol service in its car park starting at 16.30 on Saturday 24th December. Carols in the Car Park gives local people a chance to enjoy singing carols with a Salvation Army brass band and listen to the Christmas story.

After a short rest, preparations for Christmas 2023 begin in earnest in January when Iain and Ann will start to look for low-cost opportunities to stock up for next year’s present appeal. At the same time support programmes for vulnerable adults and families are run throughout the year so they would welcome any donations which can be made through the JustGivingpage: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/horsham-sa2 . Alternatively, cheques can be made payable to 'The Salvation Army'.