Mum blasts Nestle ‘scrooges’ who refused to donate sweets to charity Xmas party | UK | News
A mum has branded Nestlé ‘Scrooges’ after it ‘refused’ to donate selection boxes to a special needs Christmas party due to a ‘chocolate shortage’.
Katie Townsend has been hosting SEN-friendly events designed for children, young people and adults with additional needs at a venue in Halifax, West Yorkshire, for the last two years.
The 42-year-old said the event was an immersive Christmas party nightclub experience for young people and adults with learning disabilities and disabilities who could dance, sing and develop life skills.
The mother of three often collects donations from local companies and individuals, including candy and chocolate, to give to participants.
But this year the babysitter decided to contact confectionery giant Nestle, which operates a facility in Halifax that produces the world-famous Quality Street chocolates.
Katie said she emailed the Nestle factory in October asking to donate 200 selection boxes, then sent a follow-up message a month later.
But when the manufacturer responded at the end of November, he claimed they told him they could not donate any money to the event due to a ‘confectionery shortage’.
A stunned Katie thought it was “silly and ironic” that the chocolate factory in her town had run out of chocolate and described their reaction as “disappointing”.
In response to a photo of Michael Caine as Scrooge in 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol, Katie replied ‘yeah and he owns Nestle now’.
Katie, who lives in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, said: “We trialled the event at Christmas 2023 and it was huge. “It just snowballed from there.
“Young adults buy a ticket for £8 and I ask if they can donate a selection box to give to people when they leave.
“I thought about talking to Nestlé because it’s always the same people who donate.”
Reaching Nestle by phone and email, Katie said the company rejected her request for donations due to the candy shortage.
The email says: ‘Unfortunately we are currently short of sweets to donate so I’m afraid we can’t offer you anything at the moment.’
Katie said: “[When I got their response] I was a little surprised.
“Of course it’s a big company and I know a lot of people will ask, I understand that, but there are a lot of smaller, local companies that donate.
“I think it’s a bit ironic that a chocolate factory doesn’t have enough chocolate.
“The most shocking thing was when they said they didn’t have enough money. It’s kind of ridiculous.”
“I was disappointed with their response. I didn’t want to go back to the same people who donated. I wanted to give them a break.
“It’s a splash in the pond [for Nestle]. “I would love it if they donated next year, I’m not sure they will.”
A Nestlé spokesperson said: “We thank Katie for contacting us with her generous offer to support a local event. At the time of her request we had reserved most of our existing products for donations and unfortunately due to limited stock we were unable to accommodate additional requests.
“We understand this is disappointing and have offered to explore opportunities to support future initiatives in advance. Nestlé supports local communities wherever possible and we value the efforts of individuals like Katie who are making a positive impact.”
