A NEW COMMUNITY organisation in Bradford has helped to “put a smile on children’s faces” after donating almost 500 Easter eggs to underprivileged young people.

Faith Women Together, a group which helps to provide food for people in need, carried out the JCI Easter Egg Appeal to ensure that no one is left behind this Easter.

The appeal was supported by a number of different faith organisations in Bradford, and Bhagy Mistry – who was involved in the project – has thanked all those who helped.

“As representatives from different faith backgrounds, we decided to collectively carry out this Easter egg appeal to help disadvantaged children”, said Bhagy, of Bradford Hindu Council and SPA Bradford.

“We donated 477 Easter eggs in total. It meant a lot to the children – some parents may not be able to afford an Easter egg, and a little treat like this will bring a smile to any child’s face, regardless of age.

“It’s hard to put yourself in their shoes – but you would assume that you would be really sad if you knew Easter was coming, but you didn’t know if you were going to get a present or not.

“I also do some work with food banks and volunteering for families – and there has definitely been an increase in terms of the number of families relying on support from food banks.

“I think Covid has had a massive impact on families, and rising fuel prices is another impact which is likely to hit families too.”

Faith Women Together was set up “by chance”, explained Bhagy, after members met while volunteering over the festive period.

“Faith Women Together has been recently set up and at the moment, it has members from Hindu, Muslim and Catholic communities”, she said.

“We all came together by chance through food distribution over Christmas. Since then, we have been working with each other to support children in need.

“Doing this has also helped to bring different communities together.

“We decided to look at doing three or four different voluntary donations throughout the year, and this is our first one.

“There is no kind of ‘agenda’, so to speak, we just want to make a difference for communities.

“I would like to thank Carmel Greene, Morrisons Community Champion, Dharmendra Mistry from Sainsbury’s on Stainbeck Road, Leeds and everyone else who donated and supported our appeal.”