SPREADING JΟΥ

June Weeks, 63, brings festive cheer to families when they need it most

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With a fluffy red sack slung over my shoulder and another in my hand, I made my way down the corridor. 'Just call me Santa!' I grinned to my colleague, Karen, then 55, who was equally laden with bags. When we got to our first stop, I knocked on the door. 'Happy Christmas, from all of us,' I said, passing one of the sacks to a family of three. A smile spread across their faces, and knowing they were going through the toughest time of their lives, it warmed my heart to see them happy.

It was 24 December 2024, but it'd been the same every year since I'd started working at Sam's House and CLIC House in Bristol, in December 2016 - two of the many locations in which the charity Young Lives vs Cancer provides a 'Home from Home' environment for the families of children who are undergoing treatment in hospital.