Colleen arranges an extra special Christmas treat for local youth club

This December our community champions are sprinkling a bit of festive magic to make Christmas extra special for deserving local groups and good causes – like Drumquin Community Youth Centre.

Our Omagh store's community champion Colleen Heaney says the team at the youth centre do fantastic work all year-round to support local children, so she wanted to make their Christmas celebrations extra special. She secured a donation from the Asda Foundation to pay for a Christmas party and gift for 112 children and then helped arrange a meal and trip to Brunswick Megabowl for 30 of the 11-16-year-olds from the youth centre.

Connie Skelton, Assistant Chairperson at Drumquin Community Youth Centre, said the support from Colleen and Asda made a big difference.

She said: “We would like to say a massive festive thank you to Asda for organising our extra-special Christmas surprise!

“The children who attend our centre often don’t have the opportunity to go on days out, or miss out on chances to socialise with their friends – so it was a real delight for us to be able to organise such a fantastic activity for our service users free-of-charge.

“By granting us a £600 donation, the Asda Foundation also allowed us to organise a disco, which was great fun – with every child who attended leaving with a lovely Christmas gift. Thank you Asda for all your help and support at this special time of the year.”

Colleen says she was delighted to be able to help the group.

She said: “Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but it can also cause a lot of stress and financial pressure for families in our community.

“Drumquin Community Youth Centre does a great job in supporting local young people all year-round, so I wanted to be able to make its Christmas celebrations that little bit more special!

“I am delighted that through my role as a community champion, I was able to surprise the group with a party and an outing – and help its members to create memories which will last a lifetime!”

Local community groups Seskinore Young Farmers Club, Fintona CCÉ Co. Tyrone and Tyrone Pool Association will also receive an extra special donation from the Asda Foundation as part of Asda Omagh’s instore Green Token Giving scheme.

With the three organisations nominated by shoppers to receive a grant, the charity with the most green tokens collected will receive £1,000 instead of £500, with the other two runners-up receiving £500 each instead of £200 this Christmas.