Nottingham Basket Brigade is bringing joy to people this Christmas — and you can help too
We found out what it is, who it helps, and how to get involved…
When it comes to Christmas, giving back to the community is a brilliant way to spread cheer this season. One local organisation that is looking for help is Nottingham Basket Brigade.
I spoke with organiser Emma Richardson about how it’s organised, the kinds of people it helps, and its plans for this year. There are also plenty of ways to get involved throughout next week.
If you’re looking for things to do around Nottingham this festive season, helping out Nottingham Basket Brigade is a great way to give back this season. For more features like this, as well as guides and our newsletter, subscribe to The Notts Edit to receive our articles in your inbox for free.
How Nottingham Basket Brigade is bringing joy to the county this Christmas
By Eve Smallman
Photos courtesy of Nottingham Basket Brigade
Unwrapping gifts chosen with love. Drinking a glass of mulled wine. Spending time with friends and family. These are all moments of joy that are cherished around the festive season. It’s important to enjoy these and to hold onto these memories tightly.
It’s also important to remember that not everyone is quite as fortunate at Christmastime.
Many people don’t have homes to go to, have their loved ones around, or can afford lavish presents. They’re in need of a little extra magic – and a basket from Nottingham Basket Brigade can be just what they need.
“There was one year where there was a family where there’d been a bereavement of a parent just eight weeks before Christmas – and it was obviously hitting the family hard,” explains Emma Richardson, organiser at Nottingham Basket Brigade. “They told us that it pretty much saved their Christmas, because they weren’t feeling that festive, and then this unexpected hamper arrived and brought them a bit of cheer.”
Part of Forever Notts, the organisation works through a combination of nominations and referrals from members of the public to other people and community organisations. “If they recognise that someone might have been struggling, had something not nice happen, or just had a particularly trying time, people can nominate that family.”
Organisations that it has donated to in the past include IMARA Nottingham and Newark Women’s Aid. “Last year we also had social prescribers – NHS people and social workers – asking for boxes for people that they’re working with who might be socially isolated.”
The boxes contain a range of different treats and goods – in 2025, these will include donations from Treat Kitchen, Park Cakes Limited, and The Great Notts Christmas Toy Appeal.
The Basket Brigade runs on a mixture of gift and cash donations – the latter of which it is increasingly short of, but needs in order to add final, thoughtful touches. “We were successful in getting a Community Grant before COVID, which was meant to keep us afloat and to top up donations – but COVID meant we had to use it up quicker, and cash donations have dipped too.”
Not having as much cash means they can’t put as much in as they might have done in the past. “We always leave the donations to the end and have last-minute calculations of what we can afford to buy and what that translates to – usually in the middle of the supermarket,” Emma says. “But that’s a fun challenge with the shopping,” she smiles. Donations can be made on its JustGiving page.
Other challenges that the organisation has faced have been difficult at the time, but are fond memories for Emma to look back on. “We used to run out of Iona School in Sneinton, and a few years ago, we got a pallet of food, and the courier took it down to the Iona School in Tottenham,” Emma tells me. “We were at the school hall, the hampers were made, and we were waiting – and then we got the call.” Thankfully, the company that sent them the food sent £500 immediately to go out to buy replacement food.
When the food did come up, they were able to distribute that to local food banks – as they do with any leftover food. These include Guru Nanak’s Mission and the Nottingham Refugee Forum.
But one of the best highlights of all is the good it shows and brings. “It’s amazing seeing people in the community come together to give their time up, to make sure that others who haven’t had a good time know that they’re seen and to give them a reason to keep going,” Emma explains. “Something that we have heard over the years repeatedly is that for people who are feeling they’re in a bleak situation, it has given them the strength to go on.”
Many people who have been given hampers in the past even volunteer. “They were so touched to have received a hamper that they wanted to give something back and help somebody else out,” Emma says. “That’s definitely the ethos of Basket Brigade – we hope that the people receiving the hampers take care of themselves and maybe get themselves to a point in the future where they might also like to help somebody else out that’s struggling.”
The brigade used to fill up the homes of Emma and fellow organiser Laila-Elizabeth Risdon for about two weeks before the Basket Brigade day. “Our houses would become just stacked full of food and goods for us to take down because we weren’t able to access the rooms,” Emma says.
Thankfully, Nottingham Racecourse has stepped in to offer its venue and access throughout the week. “It means we don’t have to do as many car trips and take things that are stashed at our house,” Emma tells me. “It also means that our houses don’t become nightmares from a health and safety perspective, like climbing over mountains,” she laughs.
In 2025, people can head down to the Racecourse to help out on various days (you can sign up on this form). The week kicks off with putting tables up and receiving deliveries on Wednesday, December 3, from 1-4pm. Then, you can decorate the hamper boxes on Friday, December 5, from 11am-4pm or join the packing event on Saturday, December 6, from 9.30am-1:30pm, to help wrap presents and assemble the hampers for distribution. Then, on Monday, December 8, you can help load hampers into cars from 10am-12pm.
Everyone’s welcome to join in and lend a helping hand. “If you’ve got a few hours to spend and want to do something that genuinely can make a real difference to people’s happiness, come on down,” Emma says. “Seeing the baskets transform from a flat pack brown box into a lovely box that’s decorated, full of goods, and tied up and made to look pretty is really special.”
The boxes you look after could be going to an individual, a couple, or a whole family – all of whom will have their days brightened significantly. “You just get a very nice feeling inside knowing that you’re doing something like this,” Emma finishes by saying.
Whether you’re looking to spread some festive cheer or simply to do something meaningful this season, helping out Nottingham Basket Brigade could be a wonderful way to finish the year. It might even taste sweeter than your mulled wine.
facebook.com/BasketBrigadeNottingham
justgiving.com
🤳 Keep up with us on socials on Instagram and TikTok
✉️ Send stories such as press releases and feature ideas to editor@thenottsedit.com
💰 Want to feature your business in The Notts Edit? Email Eve Smallman at editor@thenottsedit.com for a chat
☕ Enjoying The Notts Edit? Buy us a coffee on Ko-Fi and help fuel our words