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Christmas Presents? They're 'virtually' Up Ken Barlow's Street...
| That thorny old festive question "What on earth do I buy for someone who’s got everything already?" has finally been answered - by Coronation Street’s Ken Barlow, aka actor William Roache MBE. |
| “Racking our brains for things to buy people has become a modern Yuletide headache,” says the Corrie stalwart. “The truth is that many of us already have enough possessions. So how about buying family and friends "virtual" presents in aid of the Brooke?” |
| The British-based Brooke, the UK’s leading charity for the welfare of working equine animals in developing countries, is helping to pioneer virtual gifts in the UK. Recipients of a Brooke virtual gift receive a greetings card stating that a donation has been made in their name to buy one of a variety of items to help end the suffering of working horses, donkeys and mules. |
The Brooke, which reaches over half a million working equine animals abroad with a network of free veterinary clinics and mobile units, is offering a host of heartwarming virtual gifts in its on-line catalogue. They include `Ante natal care for a new mother and foal’ at £20, a ‘Vet for a Day’ at £40; farriery tools at £33 and a £64 ‘Roadside Rescue Pack’ to save the lives of horses that collapse from heat, exhaustion or illness while working - sadly, an all-too common occurrence in developing countries.
Last Christmas nearly 5,000 virtual Brooke gifts were bought for loved ones across the UK, raising more than £100,000, which the charity is now using to reduce equine suffering. | | |  |
“Brooke virtual gifts really are the perfect answer to festive materialism,” says horse lover and keen Brooke supporter William, who was photographed on the Coronation Street set to help promote the charity’s virtual catalogue.
“Buying one enables you to remember those you care about at Christmas yet at the same time help some of the world’s hardest worked animals and the desperately poor families who depend on them for a livelihood. Receiving one makes you feel you’ve played a part in improving our troubled world. Gifts like this are a poignant reminder of the real spirit of Christmas, which is so easily forgotten…and they don’t even need wrapping.”
The last Christmas order date is the 15 December 2006, and vouchers can be downloaded up to the very last minute. Call 0845 3670555, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, or log on to.... to order
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