A GROUP of volunteers has thanked the public for their generosity after they donated items for victims of domestic violence.

The Spirit of Trust, which was founded by Claire Simm, has organised a toy and toiletries appeal for people in need at Christmas for the past four years.

This year, with the help of Rizwana Adam at Community Enterprise & Skills CIC and the Endeavour Project — which advises and helps domestic violence and abuse victims in the North West, the group of 16 trust volunteers decided to help out.

Miss Simm, aged 39, from Westhoughton, said: “It is the fourth year that we have done a collection and it has been fantastic.

“Our aim was to ensure that everyone got a toy or present at Christmas.

“We did it — we managed to help more than 40 families, which is a lot.

“Usually I would store the gifts in my house, but we got so many we were given a free storage space at the One Stop Car Shop to put them all. It has just been overwhelming.”

Rizwana Adam at Community Enterprise & Skills CIC said: “We would like to thank all those who took part. We were overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity including all the employees at Daisyfield Business centre, Boost, Enterprise4all and All Souls for supporting this cause. We would also like to thank all the individuals who took part who heard about the appeal through social media.

“Without all the support it would not have been possible to make it such a great success. We hope this will have made Christmas a better one, we hope them a much better future.”