We ask the public to nominate families (or they can nominate themselves) along with the children's first names, and their addresses. This information is kept
Strictly confidential. We buy gifts, wrap them, and fill up their stockings. They always get a special letter from Santa. We need people to volunteer to dress as Santas to deliver on Christmas Eve. We could also do with a reindeer 😉
2 days before Christmas 2014, I learnt that for over 300 families in York (where I live), there would be no presents to open on Christmas morning. The thought of that, and how lucky I was, broke my heart. So, via pages, I sent out an appeal for nominations- either from individuals themselves, or families, friends or care workers who told me a little of their stories and asked if I could help. The response was overwhelming- so many heartbreaking stories. And it became clear that it wasn't just the children who would have a bleak Christmas Day, but also some Mums having a terrible time with depression, elderly people alone, and other people badly in need of some love at Christmas. So, I went out and spent the money I'd been saving for a treat for myself on gifts, and looked at the enormous pile of my own childrens presents and added them to the bag too. I also had 2 beautiful angels that helped me- both buying bags and bags of gorgeous gifts, and another helping deliver for me. We went out on Christmas Eve at night, and left gifts for each child, mum, elderly person, or person in need that had been nominated. It took 3 hours, but we managed to reach everyone. For Xmas 2015, we are looking to do the same thing, on a much bigger scale, and with more organisation . We will be this up as a registered charity for donations, and will have drop off houses for people wishing to donate gifts. We will be looking for committee members- a treasurer, helpers to plan fundraising, and people willing to give up some of their time to help wrap gifts, allocate based on age appropriateness, and then drop them off on Xmas eve (hopefully dressed in a Santa suit! ). At this stage, we will be focusing on York and surrounding areas, and if we are successful we will roll it out all over the UK in 2016.
