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Generous woman helps community with food and toys during lockdown

She has been called a 'pandemic' hero

Ashlea Hickin by Ashlea Hickin
February 25, 2021 - Updated on May 25, 2021
in News
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Donation table in Rea's front garden

Kind-hearted Rea Davidson's front garden was filled with tables of food donated by the village for those in need of a little bit of help during these difficult times.

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Kind-hearted Rea Davidson has spent her time in lockdown making sure that her community is not going hungry, or short of a toy to play with!

Being self-employed, she was left with nothing to do when restrictions first went into place almost a year ago. So, to fill her time, she set up a stand of essentials in her front garden.

Rea Davidson
Rea Davidson thought of the stall idea one evening and was amazed at the response. The food table Facebook group now has over 120 members. Photo: Rea Davidson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People were visiting the table to pick up any food or toiletry items they needed as well as making donations of things too.

Ms Davidson said: “I didn’t want anybody to feel that they were poor or that there was something wrong with asking for help or just taking what they needed.

“I can’t bear the thought of anyone going hungry, especially families and children.”

Within two weeks of setting up the stall, Ms Davidson was overwhelmed with donations and had eight tables in her front garden at her home in Watlington, Norfolk.

Many people donated all sorts of non-perishable food to help those in the village who may be struggling. Games were also donated to help keep the children entertained.
The stall
The stall grew very quickly as donation started flooding in with toys as well as food and toiletries from people in the village. All of the tables covered Rea’s entire front garden and she still had an overflow of donations inside her house too. Photo: Rea Davidson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Game donations
Rea got the idea of having toys on her stand when one of her friends cleared out her garage and offered toys to the stand. It was very popular with the children and was the highlight of their daily walk being able to go and pick a different toy each day. Photo: Rea Davidson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Davidson later became known by the children in the village as “the toy lady”.

She said: “Children wanted to go out for a walk because they were going to see the lady with the toys.”

Kayleigh Sidney, 28 said: “I donated food and nappies to the stall when my online shop gave me substitutes that I could not return. Ms Davidson was lovely and managed to get me the right size nappies I needed.

“It’s nice to know that people like this are in our community and that they’re understanding and not judgemental.”

Ms Davidson has received a letter of recognition from the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk thanking her for her efforts.

Rea's letter from the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk
Rea was humbled and honoured when she received her letter of recognition at the end of January. In a Facebook post she said “Today I am once again humbled and reduced to tears. This is for all of you too.” Photo: Rea Davidson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She said: “I thought I would have to wait until I was 100 to get anything from The Queen!

“This is a village thing it’s not just me, but it is humbling, and I am very proud.”

Now that it’s winter, Ms Davidson is providing an order and collect service. She posts what items she has on village Facebook groups and encourages people to privately message her if they need anything.

She also has a private Facebook group for the stall which the village community can join to see what the stall has and also ask what to donate.

Ms Davidson is determined to carry on providing this service to her local community until restrictions are lifted. She aims to keep going until people have started to recover both physically and financially.

 

 

Tags: Coronavirus
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Ashlea Hickin

Ashlea Hickin

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