There was Easter excitement for children around Willesden last weekend, thanks to Cuore Italian Deli.
A traditional treat at Easter in Italy is the "flame" egg, made of chocolate wrapped in colourful paper, with a surprise inside.
Cuore Deli, in Sidmouth Road, imported 125 of these eggs and they were delivered as gifts to schoolchildren who receive support from the Gift Your Neighbour initiative, which delivers food aid across the Queens Park, Kensal Green and Brondesbury area.
Cuore also ran a raffle that included a 5kg flame egg first prize, an Easter hamper and two other eggs over 1kg, raising £1,235 for Gift Your Neighbour - enough to buy a month’s worth of food for the 78 families supported.
Rudy Siano, owner of Cuore Deli, said “Pasqua (Easter) is a big deal in Italy and we wanted to do something small but exciting for children in the area. It was also a nice way to raise money for food to help local families that might be struggling at the moment”.
Giles Deards, of Gift Your Neighbour, said: “Our volunteer network delivers emergency food to 245 people every week and this is only possible thanks to the generosity of neighbours and kind sponsorship like this."
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