Leeds gym handing out Christmas presents after being overwhelmed with donations from community

Christmas is finally around the corner, but sadly many people are unsure how they will be able to celebrate the festive season.

However, some Leeds residents are trying to make it a bit easier for everyone, like Padraic McDonough, who owns Golden Team Gym in Hunslet.

Padraic, 31, has been giving out Christmas presents with the help of his staff over the last week, intending to make sure everyone has a memorable Christmas.

He said: “Some of the guys that we work with started asking if we could start getting presents together to give away and it just grew from there.

“Dean Smith and AJ Sharma have been massively helpful, they’ve done a lot of the running around.

"I couldn’t have done it without them, it was a real team effort.”

Padraic started the donations last Sunday, adding: “When we started it didn’t go too well as I think people were embarrassed to take the toys.

"But once I put it on my Facebook we’ve had a lot of people messaging us and coming down, I think they feel less intimidated now.

"Some of the people we’ve had come down, it’s heartbreaking.

"We had one girl walk down from the top of Beeston, and my gym is in Hunslet on the outskirts of town, and she came up and she asked if you could only take two, and I said no get a bag and take as many as you want, come back tomorrow and take more I don't mind, and the girl was just blown away.”

The Golden Team Gym has been open for people to donate and take toys all week and will continue to be open until all the donations have been taken.

Padraic added: “I just think it’s been a rough year for everyone, and I was hearing that people had lost their jobs and were unsure of what to do for Christmas, that was the main reason that we started this.

“It's been a tough year all round and if you can help someone to end their year on a high it’s just the least we could do.”

Padraic also ran a food drive for homeless people earlier in December and said the turnout for that was partly what inspired him to continue to give back to the community.

He added: “This is the first time we’ve done anything like that this year, but since we’ve had such a great turnout and seeing how it’s clearly made so many people’s Christmas’, this is definitely something that we will continue to do every year.

“The community also has been great, we’ve had so many donations and all of it’s in such great condition, it’s great to see everyone still trying to help each other even through all the hardships of this year.”

To donate to Golden Team Gym visit their Facebook or visit their gym - social distancing measures apply and masks must be worn at all times.