The search is on for a family who may have mistakenly donated footage of their Christmas to a Blackburn charity shop.
Workers at the Derian House Children’s Hospice shop are hoping to reunite the family with the 23-year-old tapes that contain precious memories – and are appealing for the public to help track them down.
A camcorder, along with the tapes showing Christmas Day 2001, was recently donated to the shop in King William Street, Blackburn.
The home videos feature the opening of presents by the Christmas tree, chatting around a dining table, and three young children (named Emma, Ryan and Matthew) running around in fancy dress, with one boy dressed as Pikachu from Pokémon – the big craze at the time.
The family, who all have East Lancashire accents, are in what appears to be the grandmother of the family’s home, which has a brown patterned carpet and gold curtains.
They are listening to current pop music of the time, by Robbie Williams and Britney Spears, and open presents including some from “Aunty Caroline”. Later in the day an older boy called Nathan arrives with some more adults.
“These films will be very precious to someone out there, and we want to make sure we reunite these memories with the family,” said Tony Smalley, Retail Area Manager at Derian House.
“But we need the community’s help to figure out who they are. We can’t share screenshots of the videos as it would be a breach of privacy, but we have been able to give some information that may jog the memory of someone who could recognise the family. We’ve even converted the tapes into a digital format and we’d love to ensure they find their way home this Christmas.”
The camcorder, a Samsung VP-A20, was dropped off at the charity’s store in Blackburn town centre with no identifying information.
The charity is encouraging anyone who thinks they might know the family to come forward and call the hospice on 01257 233300, or visit the hospice in Astley Village, Chorley.
While the identity of the family remains a mystery for now, the charity hopes this appeal will bring them closer to solving the puzzle—and reuniting the tapes with the family who created them.
