Wrexham resident launches bid to donate thousands of Easter Eggs to hospitals and care homes

A Wrexham resident has launched an appeal to donate thousands of Easter Eggs to people in hospitals and care homes.

Darren Evans, Owner-Operator at BD Performance, came up with the original idea for ‘Eggs Appeal’ a few years ago before making it a reality this year in part due to the pandemic.

After not being able to continue with the idea last year due to the pandemic, Darren decided to start up again following a Facebook post he put out on his personal page regarding the matter.

The aim of the appeal is to secure over 10,000 Easter Eggs to distribute to places such as hospitals and care homes with donations and help from local residents encouraged.

The team at BD Performance has donated over 2000 Eggs to the total which has now surpassed the halfway mark, and is documented in a video on their YouTube channel.

“Originally, we did this a few years ago before COVID-19,” said Darren.

“I went in with my friend to B&M Bargains and, going down the aisle, saw they were starting to reduce their Easter Eggs until the end of the day.

“I thought they were cheap and that we could do something good with them, so I looked in my pocket and saw I had a couple of hundred quid. We did a couple of hundred eggs and dropped them off at Wrexham Maelor.”

He added: “Tesco wouldn’t let us buy 10,000 eggs in one go! They didn’t want to sell us any more than 2,500 at one time, but we were able to get more with the donations rolling in.

“Someone said to me: ‘I bet you can’t do more than two pallets of Eggs’, so I said: ‘you know what, I’ll do 10,000 Eggs’. So, that’s where the idea was born – out of my own stupidity because I didn’t realise how hard this was going to be!”

Darren has approached the likes of Nestle and Cadbury to help with either donations or a discount on their Easter Eggs but found no luck when coming to contact them.

He did receive a discount offer from B&M Bargains but ended up taking discounts via Tesco Clubcard which saves 25%, meaning he can get the most Eggs in a more cost-effective way.

Reaching the 10,000 Eggs goal is something which Darren says will happen, even if they do not hit the target with donations from North Wales residents and across the rest of the country.

“I am positive that if I have to put my hand in my pocket for another £5000, then I will hit that mark because I am not missing it,” said Darren. “I’m not missing what I said I was going to do.

“I don’t care if nobody else supports me, I’ll make the money back.”

BD Performance now have designated drop-off points for Easter Egg donations at their site in Wrexham as well as Ironworks and their South Wales base.

They have taken in various donations from people and businesses across Wrexham, such as Troy Baker who donated 1000 Eggs to the end goal last week.

Darren said: “My ethos is – no matter what it is, whether it’s giving, donating or helping out, every single person counts.

“We’ve got 15,500 people on Facebook, 5000 on Instagram and 7000 on YouTube. I know they crossover, but if they all put their hands in their pockets for 75p there would be 25,000 Eggs!”

To those who have helped out so far, the team at BD Performance thank them for their donations or offers of help to reach the 10,000 Easter Eggs target.

For larger donations, contact the Eggs Appeal Facebook page – www.facebook.com/EggsAppealUK or call 01978 758598.

For smaller donations, visit the BD Performance site in Wrexham or contact beforehand to ensure the drop-off can be made by messaging the Facebook page or calling 01978 758598.

By Jordan Adams