Aldi supported local charities, community groups and food banks in Edinburgh and The Lothians on Christmas Eve by donating 14,530 meals to those in need.
Working with Neighbourly, the supermarket paired up its stores with local charity partners in the area to collect unsold fresh and chilled food when stores closed early on 24th December, with stores repeating the initiative on 31st December.
To further support local communities this year, Aldi’s Emergency Winter Foodbank Fund saw the supermarket also commit to donating £250,000 to charitable organisations throughout the winter season.
Both the festive food donations and fund are part of Aldi’s successful partnership with Neighbourly, a community giving platform that links businesses to charitable organisations.
All of Aldi’s 980 UK stores donate surplus food to good causes, all year round, with over 27 million meals donated to good causes since its partnership with Neighbourly began back in 2019.
Liz Fox, Corporate Responsibility Director at Aldi UK, said: “We are incredibly proud to have supported so many amazing charities and community groups in Edinburgh and The Lothians this Christmas, helping them to provide warm and healthy festive meals to those in need.
“We know that the festive period will have been a particularly challenging time for so many this year which is why we also launched our Emergency Foodbank Fund – allowing us to support even more organisations at a time of heightened demand.”
Steve Butterworth, from Neighbourly, added: “Christmas is always a busy time for charities and food banks, but this year was, without doubt, one of the busiest. The donations from Aldi are vital for so many people and we are really pleased to be working together to help those in need again this year.”
Sleep experts Bed Kingdom have highlighted some tips and tricks to get the children to sleep well on Christmas Eve:
Fill the morning with exercise
Whether it’s a family walk or perhaps their favourite sport, taking the little ones for some morning exercise will promote better sleep at night by burning off energy. If you’re lucky enough to see some sunshine, this is a bonus, as it helps to set the body’s natural clock for better sleep.
Keep them away from sugary foods after midday
While it may seem a tricky task, it will prove much more of a challenge trying to get the children to sleep if they’ve had high-sugar foods near bedtime. By causing excess energy production, they will be overstimulated and therefore be kept awake resulting in disruptions during the night. Instead, try sugar-free jelly or juice with no added sugar if you need to satisfy their sweet tooth after midday.
Keeping them up late will prevent a good night’s sleep
While it may seem like a later bedtime will help your child to sleep better at night, it will in fact do the opposite. Young children who are overtired will find it much more difficult to get some shut eye, and it will only prevent them from getting enough sleep if you plan on waking up particularly early on Christmas Day.
Give them a sleep-inducing snack before bed
It’s a must to make sure your child isn’t going to sleep on an empty stomach – and if you have many activities planned on the day, they may be too occupied to realise just how hungry they are. A late-night snack will ensure they don’t have any awakenings during the night, but it’s important to choose something that induces sleep rather than fights it, like fatty and sugary foods. Bananas are both healthy and sleep-inducing as they calm the body and relax the muscles; pair it with a glass of milk, as this will make it much easier to rest due to containing tryptophan, a sleep promoting amino acid.
Keep things calm on the evening
If your way of celebrating the festivities as a family includes lots of activities, it will work in your favour to keep these for the afternoon and have a calm atmosphere for the evening. Having an earlier dinner than usual will not only help the little ones prepare for bedtime, but it’s one way to keep them occupied without having to get them too excited – and having bath time afterwards is an extra way to fill the time and relax them.
Don’t alter their night-time routine
Your children will be aware that something is missing if you alter their night-time routine. You may think that sacrificing something like a bedtime story so that they can stay up for a little while longer will help to ease the excitement out of their system, but their routine becomes a signal for sleep – so it’s vital to not make any drastic changes.
Avoid using technology too close to bedtime
If you plan on watching a Christmas film together as a family on the evening to keep things calm, it’s best to switch the screens off around two hours before your children’s bedtime. Blue light, which is emitted from technology screens like mobile phones, laptops, and TVs, can suppress the body’s hormone melatonin which is responsible for making us sleepy. So, it’s best to complete any technology related activities before the bedtime routine.
Don’t forget to countdown before bedtime
Counting down until bedtime allows your kids to prepare for sleep, for example an hour, then half an hour, and fifteen minutes prior. Not only will you avoid the protest to staying up for longer, but it helps them transition into their bedtime routine easily.
A spokesperson from Bed Kingdom commented: “Spending Christmas with the family is something that many of us look forward to all year, but having little ones around makes it that little bit more special.
“However, it can sometimes feel as though there’s nothing to prepare them for bedtime on Christmas Eve, resulting in a restless night’s sleep. Thankfully, there are several tips and tricks to keep them calm and avoid any tired children on Christmas Day.”
Santa will be touring the village on Christmas Eve with a revamped sleigh powered by state-of-the-art technology
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Santa and his team are set to tour the streets of Kirkliston on Christmas Eve again this year, in a newly revamped, first-of-its-kind, magical sleigh. Powered by a new Lithium Iron Phosphate technology, similar to the technology used in Tesla electric vehicles, the sleigh will operate all night long, on a powerful and sustainable energy source.
Kirkliston Community Council applied to the City of Edinburgh Council for a community grant fund, which was topped up by local event business 21CC Group Ltd. enabling the Community Council team to refurbish the sleigh in spectacular style, using brand new battery technology that will mean that it can operate without any carbon output.
Geoff Crow, Director of local business 21CC Group Ltd. comments, “The Kirkliston Community Council sleigh brings the magic of Christmas to the village each year.
“The sleigh hasn’t had any investment for some time and was in much need of refurbishment ahead of this year. We are absolutely delighted to top up the grant award to support the sleigh refurbishment and to enable the Community Council to create something very special this year for the village of Kirkliston.”
“Santa touring the streets of Kirkliston on Christmas Eve is a tradition that has been upheld and cherished for many years gone by. This investment in the sleigh brings it right up to date, with modern cutting-edge technology, lighting and sound systems, guaranteeing the future of the sleigh for many years to come. We are certain that Rudolph and his herd will be proud that we have been able to continue this tradition with a sharp focus on sustainability.”
The Christmas Eve celebrations are expected to bring over 8,000 locals to the streets between 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm to enjoy the festivities as Santa and his sleigh tour the village. There will also be a collection on the night for Queensferry Care in the Community.
David Buchanan, Chair of the Kirkliston Community Council, said, “This is such a wonderful example of community solidarity and togetherness, and we’re very pleased to be doing something a bit different this year.
“Our new sparkling sleigh will be used to bring joy on Christmas Eve. I personally cannot wait to see the smiles on so many faces after what has been a particularly challenging year for so many.”
Established in 1999 and headquartered in Edinburgh, 21CC Group regularly sow into local community initiatives and events. With event design, management and technical production teams all part of 21CC Group Ltd., they manage and deliver Christmas installations, events and experiential lighting trails all around the country, bringing joy to many at this time of year.
To help customers with Christmas Eve tradition of leaving carrots out for reindeer
Morrisons is giving away 10,000 wonky British carrots to customers who want to leave out refreshments for Father Christmas and his reindeer on Christmas Eve.
The wonky carrots – which are oversized, misshapen and scarred, but still taste delicious – will be handed out in bags labelled ‘Carrots for Rudolph’ from the entrances of our 498 Morrisons stores across the UK from Wednesday 22nd December.
The move aims to introduce children to wonky veg and encourage families to buy large, misshapen or slightly scarred carrots. During the festive period, our carrot sales soar, from a typical 500k bags-a-week in Morrisons to over 1.4 million in Christmas week, although wonky carrots only account for between 10% to 15% percent of sales.
Andy Todd, Carrot Buyer at Morrisons said:“Leaving out a carrot for Rudolph is a magical Christmas tradition and we want to make it easy for our customers to get involved.
“At the same time, we want to highlight that wonky carrots are just as tasty as perfect-looking carrots and help support our farmers.”
As British farming’s single biggest customer, we chose to make farmers the heroes of our Christmas advert this year. We wanted to thank them for all the work they do to help make Christmas so special – including growing and picking the carrots for both our festive lunch and for us to leave out for Rudolph.
The tradition of leaving food and drink out for Father Christmas and his reindeer can be traced all the way back to ancient Norse mythology where children would leave out food for Sleipner, the eight-legged horse ridden by Norse God Odin, in the hope that he would stop by on his travels and leave gifts in return.
