Housebuilder supports children's charity

David Wilson Homes has donated £1,500 and a range of essential toiletries to the Little Stars charity in Shrewsbury.

The charity, located near David Wilson Homes’ Rose Place development, was founded in 2020 by CEO Leanne Simcoe, who was looking to donate her own children’s baby clothes and items to local families in need but couldn’t find a local organisation offering that kind of support.

She started Little Stars from her spare room, collecting and redistributing essentials to families facing hardship. What started as a small community initiative has since grown into a registered charity supporting over 1,300 children in the past year alone.

Supporting families in the area, David Wilson Homes has pledged £1,500 to the charity and gifted the toiletries to ensure they can be distributed to those who need them most.

Chantal Cassini-Jones, fundraising co-ordinator at Little Stars, said: “We are incredibly grateful to David Wilson Homes for choosing to support Little Stars. Its generosity enables us to continue providing essential items to families during their most challenging moments.

“We are experiencing an increasing need for our services and, although we prioritise sustainability by gifting preloved donations, for health and safety reasons and to comply with safety standards, many of the requested items such as stairgates and mattresses must now be brand-new.

“This equipment is vital to the safety and development of the children needing our support and the donation will help us continue to provide these required items, ensuring the wellbeing of more babies and young children. It will also enable us to maintain our stocks of essential toiletries for children and parents, including nappies and wipes which are always in high demand.”

Little Stars supports families across Shrewsbury and the wider Shropshire area by providing essential items to children from birth up to the age of 13. Its core services include a baby bank, tots to teens and school uniform support.

Chantal said: “We also have community hubs in key locations of high deprivation, offering accessible, non-judgemental support to families in crisis.

“In addition, we run a Christmas campaign, Santa’s Little Stars, providing gifts for children and young people up to the age of 17. We also support pregnant women by supplying hospital essentials packs and maternity clothing.

“Our aim is to ease the financial and emotional stress many families face and ensure that no child goes without the basic items they need.”

The organisation also has a charity shop in the Darwin Centre in Shrewsbury, which not only raises essential funds to help the charity continue its vital work but also provides a welcoming space for the community to learn about Little Stars and access affordable, good quality pre-loved clothing and accessories for their children.

David Wilson Homes’ donation was made as part of The Barratt Foundation, which is designed to support national and local charities, large and small, across the UK to leave a legacy in the communities in which the housebuilder operates.

Helen Lewis, managing director at David Wilson Homes Mercia, said: “We are proud to support Little Stars, both with the Community Fund donation and the gift of toiletries which will help towards supporting the people of Shrewsbury at an extremely difficult period of their lives.”