The festivities came early as Tarmac employees maintained their long tradition of giving back to the community at Christmas time.
Hundreds of festive hampers – donated by employees across the country and throughout the business – have been delivered to care homes, hospitals, homeless shelters and the needy to ensure those less fortunate enjoy good cheer.
Tarmac colleagues have been collecting for the past month to create parcels full of goodies including food, drink, toys and games, which were handed out to good causes.
Aberthaw Cement Plant, in Wales, handed over boxes of treats to the Kids Out Giving Tree appeal, while their colleagues at the A34 Highways Improvement Scheme in Perry Barr, Birmingham, donated food parcels to St Teresa’s care home.
Nicola Bartholomey, production manager at Aberthaw Cement Plant, said: “We always like to make a Christmas donation and if ever it was the time to show a little extra kindness, then it is now.
“The Kids Out Giving Tree initiative is a different sort of Secret Santa whereby we buy toys for children in local refuge homes instead. Very often the recipients are children who have been forced to flee their homes quickly and leave all possessions behind because of domestic abuse.”
The Christmas cheer was evident at other Tarmac sites too including the company’s head office in Solihull, from where staff delivered care parcels and presents to patients at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, while employees at Burnley Wharf, in Southampton, also helped Santa deliver to the Portsmouth family Care Centre.