A GROUP of fundraisers will walk the length of the Wee County this weekend to raise money to buy Christmas presents for those in need.

Love in a Box Clackmannanshire will be walking from Sauchie to Alloa, stopping at Fishcross, Tillicoultry, Menstrie, Alva, Tullibody and Cambus, to raise money for more than 600 Christmas presents.

The group was formed in 2012 by Sharon McCafferty and Margaret Douglas and they purchased around 100 gifts for those who needed them most.

However, they provided gifts for more than 600 young people and children last year and are preparing to do it all again.

Sharon told the Advertiser: “We use the money to buy gifts, we had never done this before until last year.

“Because of Covid, it was really hard for people to get out and buy gifts like they normally do [last year].

“To try and minimise contact with other people, we asked within our group if it would be easier for them to do a donation and a lot of people said it would be.”

Despite monetary donations being different to how the group usually operate, it worked out well because it allowed Love in a Box to bulk buy things they needed.

Sharon continued: “What we thought last year was, instead of just asking for money, we did our own individual walks so we had a target of so many miles in the month to achieve.

“Because restrictions are a bit lighter this year, and because the idea worked so well last year, we decided we would do a walk together this year.

“Some people might want to make gift donations and that’s absolutely fine, it just gives people who maybe aren’t that confident of going out that option either way.”

Formed in 2012, this will be Love in a Box’s 10th campaign, and Sharon says the need for their services has definitely grown.

“It’s only gotten bigger,” Sharon continued. “The level of need has become much more significant.

“It’s getting higher and higher every year.

“Times are hard and they’ve been hard for a while for all of us in the community.”

With both Sharon and Margaret having experience of working with children, Sharon continued: “We saw the level of need and we saw the impact of it.

“Nobody should wake up without a Christmas present.

“The beauty of it is the kids don’t know it’s Love in a Box, they don’t know it’s Sharon, or Margaret, all they know is they wake up and there’s a big bag of presents from Santa.”

Sharon added: “We’d like to say a massive thanks to Armstrong Printing who were so kind in making the flyers for our sponsored walk.”

The group will walk across the Wee County on Saturday, October 2.

Visit tinyurl.com/59phtfe5 to make a donation or search Love in a Box Clackmannanshire on Facebook for more information.