Kind-hearted legal firm helps give Derbyshire housing trust residents a merrier Christmas
Kind-hearted employees at Shacklocks legal firm have helped give once homeless residents at Derventio Housing Trust a merrier Christmas after creating special gift boxes full of festive treats.
Staff at Shacklocks, which has branches in Belper, Allestree and Mansfield, have come together to create boxes filled with goodies to help give residents facing a lonely Christmas some festive cheer.
The firm of solicitors have been donating to Derventio Housing Trust every Christmas since 2017, saying they would like to benefit an organisation helping people in the local area.
Derventio Housing Trust is a Community Interest Company providing accommodation to around 1200 people every year who would otherwise be homeless.
It operates in five UK counties and is currently housing more than 200 people in Derby and around 150 more in wider Derbyshire, along with around 150 in neighbouring Staffordshire.
Derventio Housing Trust runs a charity appeal every year asking businesses and individuals to help fund low-cost treat boxes for residents at Christmas time.
Trust leaders are urging people to back the appeal, saying this time of year is especially hard for people who may be estranged from friends and family and are unlikely to have a special meal or presents.
Shacklocks’ team of 35 staff have filled their gift boxes with treats such as chocolate and nuts to help put a smile on residents’ faces at Christmas time.
Cassandra Worton, partner at Shacklocks, said:
We’ve always helped Derventio in previous years. Otherwise, people living in Derventio properties would not get nice Christmas treats like nuts or tasty snacks.
We like to support a local organisation as much as we can. We are a local firm and we support local communities so this seems a perfect fit.
Cassandra said she had paid a visit to Derventio Housing Trust’s Growing Lives project in Ilkeston, which sees residents taking part in activities such as bike-building, crafts and gardening, designed to build confidence and help them get their lives back on track.
Many Derventio residents have struggled with drug and alcohol use, may have suffered from traumatic backgrounds, and have seen their lives spiral out of control in tough situations such as redundancy or a relationship break up that can leave people without secure networks in their lives with nowhere to go.
Cassandra said:
I’ve been lucky enough to visit Growing Lives and it was such a breath of fresh air to see people involved in things like building relationships and developing skills like cooking, gardening and bike maintenance and repair. It’s such a good project.
Sarah Hernandez, managing director of Derventio Housing Trust, said:
Thank you so much to Shacklocks for their very generous donation – amazingly for eight years in a row! – which will put smiles on so many residents’ faces this Christmas.
For many people living in supported housing like ours, Christmas is not a celebration but a reminder of what they have lost. Acts of kindness like giving a box of treats really mean the world to residents. Every year we see how delighted residents are that someone has thought of them at Christmas time. Thank you so much to Shacklocks for their generosity every year. I know that residents living in our communities will be extremely grateful.
Anyone who would like to donate to Derventio Housing Trust’s Christmas gift box appeal can do so here: https://localgiving.org/fundraising/derventiochristmasboxappeal2025