Children in Need Ice Cream Giveaways for Special Needs Schools
From one special needs school in 2012 to a convoy of ice cream vans and a nationwide fundraiser.
Our Children in Need giveaways started in 2012, when we visited a special needs school in Salford, handed out free ice creams, and donated the proceeds to Children in Need.
In November 2013 we teamed up with other ice cream vans, including our friends at Daniel's Ices. After meeting the Children in Need team at MediaCityUK, we spent a day serving free ice creams at special needs schools in Salford and Failsworth. "Seeing the children come out to get their ice creams was wonderful," Austin said at the time. "The joy on their faces and the thank-yous, spoken and signed, were enough to make us want to do it again."
In 2014 we organised a much bigger giveaway: nine fellow ice cream vans came to Manchester from as far away as Fleetwood, Reading and Liverpool. The convoy of ten vans gave out around 1,000 ice creams to children at special needs schools across Greater Manchester, raised more than £1,000 for Children in Need, and was covered by the Manchester Evening News.
In 2015 the idea went nationwide. We helped ice cream vans in Scotland, Newcastle, Bournemouth and elsewhere set up giveaways in their own areas, and together they raised £4,000. It's still one of the things we're proudest of as a family business.