In the March issue of Parklife we celebrated the amazing achievement of over 200 people who had reached their thirty year anniversary as Park Agents. So when Sylvia Kelly contacted us to say that 2014 is the FORTIETH year she has been budgeting for Christmas, we couldn’t resist finding out more.

The great grandmother from Farnham in Surrey loves being an Agent and encourages people who struggle to afford Christmas to give Park a try because it makes so much difference. She said: “For 2014 I have four new customers so I am very pleased to be saving for another year.

“I thought 2013 might have been my last year as an Agent as I have been battling cancer for the last two years but I couldn’t let my customers down.

“Being an agent for forty years has been both a pleasure and an honour.”

With Sylvia having such a big family, she finds that budgeting for Christmas is a must so that she can get presents for over thirty immediate family members.

She said. “There’s myself and my partner Oliver (79), six children Donald (53), Kathleen (51), Brendan (50), Theresa (48), Francis (45) and John (44).

“We would be so lost without Park!”

“Not forgetting 23 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren – with 2 more on the way

“I give the older ones vouchers for Christmas so they can choose something they really want but for the little ones I like going out and buying them toys from Argos with my Love2shop vouchers.

Sylvia uses her vouchers to buy food too – with many mouths to feed during the Christmas holidays.

“I enjoy going to Iceland and spending more vouchers in there,” she said. “I need to make sure my freezer is stocked up and ready for everyone who descends on me over Christmas.”

Sylvia started out budgeting with Devon-based Andy Hampers in 1974 and she had twenty nine customers.

When Andy Hampers were taken over by Family Hampers she continued to budget and was delighted to become a Park Agent when we welcomed Family Hampers into the Park fold in 2006. Three of Sylvia’s customers have been with her for the whole forty years she has been an Agent, and Val, Tracey and Nigel couldn’t imagine not budgeting for Christmas.

Their orders have changed over the years – they now opt for Love2shop vouchers rather than solely hampers.

But all three of them feel exactly like Sylvia when it comes to paying for Christmas: “We would be so lost without Park!”