Fitness fiends scrap ‘meaningless’ Secret Santa to give struggling families a boost

Members of Fit Mums, who meet at Hartford Cricket Club, are bonded by a shared dislike of the gym, but hook up regularly to get their exercise fix in the great outdoors instead.

Like many clubs and groups, they always hold annual festive get together, which traditional involves doing a Secret Santa with up to a £10 price tag.

But this year, group member, Sarah Bayley, had a bit of a brainwave.

Instead of buying ‘unwanted’ gifts for one another, she thought, why not pool the money they would normally fork out and spend it on supermarket vouchers for families who would really benefit from a festive helping hand.

The idea was a big hit with the group, who together managed to raise an impressive £435.

On Saturday, December 21, Sarah and the group’s Fit for Life coach, Karen Rogers, took the vouchers to Mid Cheshire Foodbank, based at Barnton Methodist Church, where they were very well received.  

Sarah said: “Christmas is a time for giving, and it really has given us all at Fit Mums a profound sense of doing something amazing to help others.

“Each year at Christmas time, we have our annual Christmas party and we usually do Secret Santa gifts.

But I always think, ‘oh no, not Secret Santa again!’

“It’s just having to buy a meaningless gift to give to someone who will not like it, doesn’t need it, or probably won’t even want it.

“And for me to receive a gift I don’t want or need either, so I came up with a much better idea.

“Karen, our coach, thought it was a great idea too and immediately agreed to it, so I started to organise it with my fellow Fit mums.

“Like me, they all preferred giving the money to others at this time of year who may be struggling. 

“As the weeks went by, the donations came in and we raised £435 in vouchers, which Karen and I delivered to the local food bank in Barnton.”

Sarah hopes spreading the word about this year’s project might inspire others to do the same.

She added: “My hope in sharing this is other groups out there who may do Secret Santa will consider doing something similar in the future.

“I have worked all my career with vulnerable families, and I see the struggles they face, especially when they’ve got young children.”