This year, YWCA Yorkshire were gifted 84 chocolate eggs by big hearted businesses to celebrate Easter with women, children and families. Many of the families YWCA Yorkshire support don’t have the financial resource to buy ‘treat’ items like Easter Eggs, but with the support of local people, the charity was able to ensure that mums and their children didn't feel left behind 

YWCA Yorkshire Chief Executive, Diane Offers, explains: “For most people living in South Yorkshire, getting an Easter Egg or doing something with family over the school break is completely normal.  You only need to look around the shops at this time of year to see how mainstream it has become. 

“We use these times of year to try and provide a little bit of normality to the families we support. To celebrate them and to connect with them. By bringing people together around an activity, such as a spring arts and crafts session, we can help build an alternative picture of family life for people who may have experienced a very chaotic childhood.  Something as small as an Easter Egg can make a big difference to the experience a child has, and how they remember feeling.  

“For our mums, these small acts of kindness, whether it’s an Easter Egg or a bunch of spring flowers to mark the start of a new season, can really aid the recovery of their own trauma and help them start to build their own positive memories with their children. I want to say a huge thank you to all our supporters for their kindness and generosity this year.” 

YWCA Yorkshire’s Rotherham based Fleming Gardens hosted a spring craft and egg hunting event for 13 families at Bramley Parish Hall. Local business and charity champions, Roy Hatfield, donated 30 Easter Eggs and attended the special event, to personally gift the eggs to children. Green Gables families in Doncaster were gifted chocolate eggs thanks to donations from Tesco at Wath, Tesco at Penistone, Tesco at Rotherham and Asda at Wath. Fourteen young women living in Peile House homeless hostel were given Easter Eggs by Tesco in Sheffield. 

YWCA Yorkshire supports women, children and families at three housing projects and in the community in Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster. Through a range of housing and trauma-informed services, the charity empowers young women to live independent, happy and fulfilled lives. The charity specialises in working with young people that have experienced homelessness, domestic abuse, sexual exploitation and financial hardship. YWCA Yorkshire’s expert team provide safe spaces where women can grow in confidence and skills and build trusted relationships - so that families can go on to create a better future for themselves and their children. 

If you are a business, community group or an individual local to South Yorkshire and you’d like to learn more about how you can support a charity working with women and children to create better futures locally, please email admin@ywcayorkshire.org,uk.