An amazing mum has been spending her Christmas making sure struggling families get a delicious dinner on the big day and wake up to presents under their tree.
Deborah Gemmell has raised over £1300 to provide a Christmas lunch and hampers packed with goodies for 20 families who could not otherwise afford it.
With the help of friends and family she delivered a three-course meal, even picking up all the ingredients for people to make their soup plus puddings and bottles of wine.
She has also given Santa Claus a run for his money after providing piles of toys for around eight families, making sure no child is disappointed on Christmas Day.
Deborah explained she had started off with a small budget and thanks to the amazing generosity of people on Facebook she has been able to provide a luxury Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.
She said: “I had just put a wee bit on Facebook asking if anyone could help out and I thought I’d do it on a budget and just get the basics but then I had such an amazing response from people that I was then able to get a proper luxury dinner from the butchers.
“I also had lots of gifts donated too so I’ve been able to make up hampers for all the families I ended up with a house-full of toys as well so there was about seven or eight families I was able to provide most of their Christmas presents as well.
“The response has been brilliant, it shows people want to help each other.”
Deborah (41), is a family support worker in social policy at West Lothian Council and lives with kids Jack (17) and Casey (11) in Boghall.
She explained why she wanted to help people less fortunate than herself, adding even middle class families are now struggling to afford essentials.
She said: “I work in care so I can see different situations people are in.
“It started a few years ago because I wanted my kids to appreciate how lucky they are so we went out about five years ago we through to Edinburgh to give out gift packages to homeless people.
“The kids loved helping other people and every year we’ve tried to do something to help someone.
“This year I just thought I want to give someone a Christmas dinner, there are families I work with that struggle and I thought what will they do for their dinner and I thought there will be lots of people like that this year.”
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