1,700 children in Kensington & Chelsea will get their toys this Christmas thanks to Westway Community Transport (Westway CT). SMART London, a charity and community well-being centre supporting people in Kensington & Chelsea donated 350 Christmas presents to children and families who are struggling this year, and Westway CT made sure they were delivered.
Westway CT volunteer Tim Sai Louie collected the presents from SMART London on Wednesday 21st December and delivered them to Holmfield House Children’s Centre in Golborne Road from where they will be distributed to families in need for Christmas. Without Westway CT’s goods van, the presents might not have made it.
This year everyone is feeling the cold and the cost of living squeeze but for families who are already struggling it’s even more difficult. Across the borough, local organisations are working together to ensure no one misses out on Christmas. Kensington & Chelsea is no stranger to poverty with one in four children (24.4%) in the borough living in poverty[1] and in the Golborne ward 38.9 percent of people experience deprivation due to low income[2].
Amelia Mustapha, Director of SMART, told Westway CT that; “With the help of Westway CT, SMART was able to deliver 350 toys to our most vulnerable children who would not have woken up with a Christmas present otherwise. This was part of a drive that gave toys to 1700 children in Kensington & Chelsea“.
Community Transport organisation Westway CT in Kensington & Chelsea mainly provides passenger transport in minibuses but is increasingly helping people get the things that they need. Westway CT exists to fill the gaps in public transport for mobility and economically challenged individuals as well as group travel for local organisations so that their members can make full use of their activities and services. Since Covid and now the cost of living crisis, Westway CT has also been transporting goods, ensuring that food banks stay stocked up and that donations are widely distributed.
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[1] https://lightbulbtrust.org/poverty-and-prosperity-in-kensington-chelsea/
[2] https://socialistworker.co.uk/features/kensington-and-chelsea-a-tale-of-two-cities/