Portsmouth family rally friends to support city charity Home-Start by collecting 300 books for children in the community

Lisa and Paul Henning and their 12-year-old daughter Emmy Grace collected books and raised funds from family and friends in support of Home-Start Portsmouth.

This voluntary organisation, committed to promoting the welfare of families in the city of Portsmouth, is a cause close to the family’s hearts.

The Hennings smashed their initial target of gathering 100 books, and also collected enough donations to be able to buy Christmas selection boxes for children in need of a little extra festive joy.

Emmy Grace said: ‘As a family we wanted to give something back this year to those less fortunate than us.

‘We set ourselves a target of collecting 100 books and have tripled that, along with raising funds and donations which have been used to buy a Christmas selection box for each child.’

The Henning family has spent the last four weeks reaching out to family and friends asking for unwanted books for children and teenagers and cash donations to support the charity at Christmas.

Home-Start Portsmouth is an independent family support charity that was established in 1992 and has supported thousands of families in the city since its launch.

It exists to enable local parents to be the best they can be by offering emotional and practical help through trained volunteers, both in family homes and out in the community.

Lisa said: ‘Home Start is an organisation that is close to our hearts.

‘The team there do a fantastic job in supporting local families that are experiencing a whole range of difficulties that include bereavement, isolation and depression, to name a few.’

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The gifts donated by the Henning’s family and their friends were distributed at the centre’s Christmas party on Friday.

Lisa added: ‘We would like to thank all of our friends and family for helping us achieve this local fundraiser.

‘We know that it will make such a difference to the charity this Christmas and we can’t thank everyone who helped us enough for their generosity.

‘Given the success of our campaign this year, we are planning a much bigger push next year through involving local businesses.’

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