Greater Anglia staff collect more than 450 Easter eggs for children in hospital

Published on: Thursday, 14 April 2022
Last updated: Thursday, 14 April 2022

Simon Pope, relief ticket office supervisor (left) and Michael King, relief ticket office clerk (right) with the donated treats. Credit: Greater Anglia

Michael King and Simon Pope donate the treats to Princess Alexandra Hospital. Credit: Greater Anglia

Greater Anglia staff have delivered more than 450 Easter eggs to put a smile on the faces of children spending Easter in hospital in East Anglia.

Customers dropped off Easter eggs at Bishop’s Stortford, Harlow Town, Stansted Airport, Sawbridgeworth and Cambridge North stations after an appeal was put out in March, asking for donations of chocolate treats and delights for local hospitals.

Some 255 eggs were donated to the children’s ward at Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Harlow, while an extra £150 was raised to buy activity kits with colouring books and pens. A special Easter hamper full of sweet treats was also given to the doctors, nurses and ward staff by the train company’s team.

The scheme was the mastermind of Michael King, who works as a relief ticket office clerk at Sawbridgeworth and Stansted Mountfitchet stations.

“I first did this in 2020 and we only had 120 eggs donated then,” he said.

“I didn’t think we’d get anywhere as many as we have. I’m blown away by it.

“It was a case of doing something nice for the hospital, especially the hamper, to say thanks for what they’ve done over the past two years.

“I’m proud of what’s been achieved over the past six weeks, our staff and customers have helped out massively. I’d say a huge ‘thank you’ to everybody.”

Another 200 eggs and bag full of soft toys were also given for youngsters at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge by Cambridge North station commuters.

The donations were made possible thanks to Denise Vincent, a member of the station’s staff who co-ordinated the effort.

Denise said: “We thought we’d get to 50 and we would be happy - then it kept going and going.

“We had to pack it away very tidily to be able to store them as we had so many.

“We gave the eggs to the staff who play with the children on the ward and they were absolutely over the moon with the amount of them. They said that there are a lot of children there that were nil by mouth, so the cuddly toys were really appreciated too.

“We were blown away by the generosity from everyone that came through the station. The eggs just kept coming and coming.”