A SOCIAL enterprise in Llandudno is helping keep children in Conwy warm this Christmas through its latest campaign.
‘Coats4Kids Conwy’ is the latest initiative planned by Ally Elouise from ‘Prom Ally CIC’, a non-profit organisation which offers free loans of prom dresses to students who could not otherwise afford one.
Having seen some turn up to the primary school she used to work at without coats during the winter, Ally has been helping distribute coats donated by residents to schools, charities and more across the region.
She said: “I used to work in a primary school locally, and there was a lot of kids who would come in over the Christmas period without coats.
“We just thought, well, we’re sat here with no proms on or anything, so we did a campaign and started collecting the coats. We’ve had about 100 donated to us so far.
“People donate them to our shops, and we’ve been in touch with all of the local schools, charities, and food banks; we’ve got a referral form, so if anyone needs help with a coat, they just have to fill in that form and then we can get them one.
“The form just asks what size and age children they have, things like that.”
People can get in touch by either donating coats at Prom Ally’s base at 23 Madoc Street, Llandudno (open 10am – 4pm from Tuesday to Saturday), or by emailing: coats4kidsconwy@gmail.com.
Alternatively, for those unable to visit Prom Ally’s shop during its opening hours, Ally added that the Wilko store in Mostyn Champneys Retail Park has also said it will happily accept coat donations (open 9am – 6pm every day apart from Sunday: 10am – 4pm).
Ally is also in the process of raising money to afford the £9,000 in rent needed to keep Prom Ally at its current base.
A GoFundMe page has been set up (www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-keep-the-prom-ally-shop-open), which has currently raised more than £2,500.
Ally herself also took part in a recent fundraiser to support the cause, completing the Conwy half-marathon in a prom dress last weekend.
She added: “It was so hard; I nearly gave up and phoned my dad to pick me up after the Great Orme portion!
“But I pushed on and managed it 45 minutes quicker than my predicted time – I did it in 2 hours 41 minutes and raised lots for Prom Ally!”
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