Forever Green group brings community cheer

COMMUNITY champion Cathy Newton has praised “all of the wonderful people in our community” following the massive success of the Forever Green Easter delivery initiative.

Chairman of the Forever Green Community Group, she, along with other volunteers, hatched a plan to deliver as many Easter gift bags to the elderly, the lonely and the vulnerable.

Each gift bag contained a small chocolate egg, a bunch of flowers and an Easter card which were hand delivered to people across Denton South and Haughton Green.

Cathy said: “I’m not really sure how the idea came about to be honest, we’ve always tried to do whatever we can to help the older and more vulnerable members of our community.

“Through the Forever Green Easter deliveries, we wanted to show them that there are people out there who are thinking of them and who are prepared to help if they’re needed.

“Our initial goal was to deliver at least 100 parcels. We were a bit worried we wouldn’t hit that target because times are tough for everyone, but the response we got was incredible.

“We ended up delivering somewhere in the region of 240 parcels across Denton South and Haughton green, which just blew us away.”

Recipients of the gift bags were quick to express their gratitude on the Facebook group, with many commenting that the gesture had greatly cheered them up.

Cathy continued: “I’ve lived here my whole life. We must look after what we’ve got, not just in our own little world but the people in the community around us too.

“Ever since the start of Covid, that has become even more important because there are people out there who have no one.

“They’re lonely and vulnerable and we wanted to show that they weren’t forgotten and seeing the reaction to the gift bags from those people made every minute worthwhile.”