Dunelm calls on Exeter customers to help deliver joy to those who are less fortunate this Christmas  

After delivering hundreds of gifts donated by kind customers last Christmas, Dunelm, the Home of Homes, is once again launching its community-focused festive campaign, Delivering Joy, in Exeter.  

Now in its fourth year, the campaign aims to help people across the UK that may not otherwise receive a gift to open on Christmas Day.  

The campaign is simple – customers can collect a tag from their nearest Dunelm store with a gift request from a local good cause, including schools, care homes, refuges, and charities. Customers are asked to return the tag, attached to a gift which can be from any retailer, and Dunelm will ensure the gift is delivered before Christmas. 

Dunelm Exeter is supporting a range of local and national charities this Christmas, including nursing homes, children and family charities and local schools.  

Last year’s campaign saw the number of donated gifts soar from just shy of 20,000 to more than 60,000 and this year looks likely to top that. Social media posts showcasing some of the gift request tags have already gone viral, as Dunelm Community Facebook members shared with friends and family to encourage them get involved in the heartwarming campaign.   

With many thousands of likes already and some stores already having had all their first wave of tags collected within just days of the campaign launching, the hope is that this year Dunelm will be able to deliver more joy than ever before. 

The trees and tags are already in the Exeter Dunelm store and, like last year, Dunelm store colleagues have noticed that many of the requests are incredibly simple, suggesting that the potential recipients are still struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.   

Children have been asking for new underwear, teddies and hair bobbles for school, amongst other items.  Last year, store colleagues noticed many people put winter essentials at the top of their wish lists with items such as hats, scarves, socks, toiletries and festive food items like selection boxes in high demand.  

As part of their Delivering Joy campaign, the Exeter store will be working with Vranch House School, Esteem Team, Exeter Community Initiative and Children and Family Health Devon. 

The store will also be supporting Sainthill Nursing Home, CHAT and Exeter Baby Bank. 

Ed Bishop, Store Manager at Dunelm Exeter said: “Following the incredible success of the Delivering Joy campaign over the last three years we can’t wait to see what this year brings.  

“We want to help deliver even more joy to people in Exeter, who, without the generosity of our community, may otherwise go without gifts this Christmas. 

“We can’t wait to receive the gifts and deliver these to some incredible local causes, including Sainthill Nursing Home, Children and Family Health Devon and Exeter Baby Bank.” 

Amanda Cox, Chief People Officer & Stores Director at Dunelm said: “Over the past three years we are proud to have helped deliver nearly 100,000 gifts to thousands of people who may not otherwise had anything to open on Christmas Day. 

“With the cost-of-living crisis still impacting many families and the elderly, we want to deliver as much joy as we can for those who may need some extra support this Christmas. We’ve already been overwhelmed by the generosity we’ve seen from so many of our customers and I know the team at our Exeter store is working really hard to make sure that this year we are able to deliver more joy than ever before'.    

Any of this year’s tags that aren’t fulfilled by the middle of December will be funded by Dunelm to ensure no one goes without this Christmas.   

This year, customers can also give an online gift through Dunelm’s charity partner, Mind, with money donated helping to fund information booklets about mental health, fund Mind’s trained Infoline team and provide support through Side by Side, Mind’s online community. 

For more information on the Delivering Joy campaign, visit your local Dunelm store or go online to:
https://www.dunelm.com/info/delivering-joy  

How does the campaign work? 

• Dunelm colleagues work with local care homes, schools, refuges and charities to collect individual tags carrying a request for a gift that also includes the recipient’s gender, age and choice of gift. 
•  All the tags are hung on the Delivering Joy tree that can be found in every Dunelm store so that customers can collect one.   
• Once the customer has chosen a gift, which can be from any retailer, they return it to store with the tag attached. 
• Dunelm then arranges the delivery of all the gifts in time for Christmas. 
• Customers can also make a gift or donate unused Christmas decorations to bring additional festive cheer to the community causes involved. 
• For those who want to participate but are unable to make it into store, tags can be sent online via Dunelm’s Community Facebook Groups.