A START-UP which allows people to send gifts to one another through an app has launched a fundraiser to help disadvantaged families.

Brighton-based Prsnt is calling on people to give what they can to Pelican Parcels by sending gifts from Sainsburys or Amazon to an assigned number. Donations will be then delivered personally to the charity to help those in need.

CEO and co-founder of the gift-giving app Omid Moallemi said the idea came about after he met with representatives of the charity at the Sussex Business Awards, where the app was nominated as start-up of the year and Pelican Parcels won the community hero award.

Omid said: "I felt that having a company with the technology to allow people to donate quickly and effortlessly was something we had to get involved with and have been speaking with them about raising donations through our platform and letting them distribute to those in need in the Brighton area."

He said they have set a target of raising at least £500 for the charity which, while he admits is not a lot, "will mean so much to some".

The start-up plans to create the Prsnt Foundation next year, to help donate to local charities in Brighton as the company grows.

"Our company is about gifting, which is altruistic, and that is why we love what we are doing and building, and being able to give back is our mission, spreading smiles," Omid said.

People wishing to donate should download the app, scroll down to donations in the Christmas section and send what they can afford to give from either Sainsburys or Amazon to the number stated in the app.

Based in Hove, Pelican Parcels takes pre-loved and new item donations for babies and children up to the age of ten and redistributes them to families facing financial hardship via various existing family services in Brighton and Hove.

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