THE Kinder Shop may have only been open for one day in Dumfries last week but it made quite an impact.
Customers to the pop-up event, organised by The Cumberland Building Society, paid not with money, but with kindness and a promise to give time to one of three local charities.
Among the kindness was the gift of a brand-new tricycle to three-year-old Beau as an early Christmas present from Liz Grieve, who also offered to do extra volunteering at the Summerhill Community Centre.
She made the generous offer after meeting Beau’s grandmother, Nicola Gemmell, in the Loreburne Shopping Centre where the Kinder Shop was taking place.
Liz said: “I run the bread club at Summerhill and when Nicola said she would not be able to commit to volunteering at the moment because of her health I thought I would step in and help.
“The bread club is helping people from lots of different age groups discover how to bake their bread so I will be happy to do more hours there.”
Nicola said: “It was very kind of Liz to help in this way. When I am feeling up to it I will give my time to help too.
“I think the Kinder Shop is a wonderful idea that is bringing people together in Dumfries.”
Another visitor to the store was 12-year-old Kian Johnston who volunteered at a food bank with his friends from North West Community Campus school to ‘pay’ for the perfect present for his mum.
He said: “I got her this giant cushion because her recliner is broken and my dad always gets the corner of the sofa so this will give her something to support her.”
Over 400 hours were pledged to local charities as part of the Kinder Shop initiative and Ryan McCubbin, manager at Dumfries branch of The Cumberland, said: “We had an amazing response to the Kinder Shop in Dumfries.
“They say it’s better to give than to receive, but thanks to The Kinder Shop, people could do both this Christmas.”
