Christmas can be a difficult period for those who are in need which is why MERKUR UK has stepped up to the plate providing much needed funds to help the work of organisations including Willen Hospice, Soul Food Edinburgh, the Momentum Children’s Charity and an initiative to provide Christmas Dinner to the homeless in Grantham.

MERKUR UK and its family of brands comprising Blueprint Operations, Regal Gaming Technologies and MERKUR Casino is lending its support to a range of charities and not for profit organisations which will be helping  members of the broader community over the Christmas period.

The team based at the MERKUR UK head office in Milton Keynes will be launching the Platinum Partnership with the city’s Willen Hospice by running for a ‘good Claus’ in the organisation’s annual Santa Dash taking place on Sunday 15 December.

A MERKUR UK team of ten comprising Tom Woollerton, Thomas Hodgson, Simon Quach, Amy Hewitson-Collett, Simon Rowlands, Dan Hargreaves, Sophie Usher, Grace Taylor, May Clayton-Alsop and Kyle Williams will be participating in what has become a Christmas tradition for many Milton Keynes-based families.

The Santa Dash invites participants to dress-up as Santa, and run, walk, or dash around Willen’s North Lake, spreading holiday cheer and raising funds for the Hospice which has to raise £23,835 each and every day, (£8.7m/year) for it to continue to provide its services free of charge.

Following the Santa Dash Sarah Gillett, May Clayton-Alsop and Bradley Doswell will be helping at the Willen Hospice Christmas dinner which has been funded by the company.

North of the border MERKUR UK, along with its customers, has donated £1,500 to Soul Food Edinburgh, a community charity which serves hot, home-cooked meals and provides support to those experiencing homelessness, isolation and loneliness.

Soul Food Edinburgh was established in 2014 and currently hosts ten community initiatives in Edinburgh and Livingston each week, serving a total of 2,400 meals.

Jenny Cornfield, co-founder of Soul Food Edinburgh commented: “The funds from MERKUR UK will cover the costs of one of our busy community meals in Edinburgh’s city centre for an entire month. It provides food for anyone experiencing homelessness, poverty, isolation and loneliness. MERKUR also gave us funds to buy much needed kitchen equipment. This sort of help is invaluable to a small charity and we are so grateful for their genuine interest and support.”

Elsewhere MERKUR UK has extended its support of the Momentum Children’s Charity helping it to launch its Christmas Magic Moment campaign which opens with the provision of an advent calendar to every child who is in active treatment (and their siblings). The calendars are a surprise for families and provide small moments of fun during the Christmas period.

As part of a commitment to support initiatives in local communities the team at Blueprint will be helping to provide Christmas Dinner to people who are suffering homelessness in Grantham.

Reflecting on the contributions, Tony Boulton, Director of Public and Political Relations at MERKUR UK, said: “We are proud to support charities and organisations that do such an incredible job serving their local communities. The need is more pronounced at Christmas when there are so many demands on people’s ability to support those in society who are most in need.”

He added: “In our discussions with over 200-charities and organisations it is clear how difficult it is to attract funding and we are pleased that we have been able to support groups which play such a crucial role in helping to sustain our communities.”