​Generous colleagues at leading decorating and DIY specialist Leyland SDM have helped spread some Christmas goodwill by donating food and clothes to homeless people in the capital.

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Leyland SDM donated over £1,200 to the charity ProjectGiving, which distributes food and essentials to some of London’s most needy.

Members of the finance team and Wembley support centre led the way with fundraising while the business also made a sizeable contribution. The money will be used to buy food and clothes and distributed in Holborn town centre.

The fundraising drive was led by Kanchan Patel, who is a member of Leyland SDM’s accounts team.

“I’ve been aware of the charity and its amazing work for a long time,” said Kanchan.

“I mentioned it to our finance team, and everyone was keen to get involved and help, which was brilliant. We are all Londoners and this city is very important to us.

“I’m so delighted to have raised such a great sum of money and I’m grateful to the company for contributing generously as well. It’s so sad to see people living in such a desperate state.”

Working with ProjectGiving, Kanchan helped distribute some of the food and clothes alongside colleagues Dina Parmar and Jay Mehta. The trio plan to volunteer again during 2024.

The most recent data showed 10,053 rough sleepers recorded on London’s streets between April 2022 and March 2023.

Mayuri Bhudia, of ProjectGiving, thanked Leyland SDM for its support.

She said: “Homelessness is a growing problem in London and this time of year is particularly difficult for those affected during to the plunging temperatures.

“We have been running for nine years and we exist as a charity simply to meet people’s most basic needs like food, clothes and toiletries. Typically, we’ll help between 100 and 150 homeless people each month.

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“We are constantly fundraising in order to do this and we are very grateful to the people of Leyland SDM for their support. It makes a tremendous difference and in some cases could even be the difference between life or death.”

Leyland SDM has become one of the most recognisable and trusted decorating and DIY retail brands in central London, with stores in some of the capital’s most prominent locations.

Its 33 stores stock a comprehensive range of thousands of products across all departments, including paint and decorating essentials, building materials, electrical fittings, tools, plumbing equipment, ironmongery and much more, all under one roof.

Some of the biggest and best-known DIY brands are available at Leyland SDM, including Farrow & Ball, Tesa, Bahco, Bosch, Purdy, Dulux Trade, Leyland Trade, Stanley, Ronseal and DEWALT.

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