Charity to give one million people ‘bags of kindness’ to those in need this Christmas

Love Your Neighbour will distribute food, clothes and gifts to people in need across the UK

Volunteers from St Francis Church on the Dalgarno Estate in West London delivering some of the 1500 Christmas boxes to residents as part of the the national ‘Love Christmas’ initiative (PA)

A charity is planning to gift a million people in need of support in the UK with “bags of kindness” this Christmas.

Love Your Neighbour, a church-based charity that works in local communities across the country, will deliver food, clothes and gifts to people as part of its Love Christmas scheme.

Thousands of volunteers are involved in the scheme, and are spending their time donating, packing and delivering the parcels to their neighbours.

Last year, the scheme reached 775,000 people in more than 300,000 homes. The charity hopes that its drive this year, which launched on Thursday, will surpass the million mark.

The charity wants the bag distribution to be a part of both “helping each recipient materially and enabling them to feel the warmth of human connection”.

People who wish to help pack and deliver a “bag of kindness” do not have to be connected to a church in order to do so.

The charity says on its website: “Why not give a bag to a neighbour, an NHS worker who lives nearby, or someone else you know it would make their Christmas?”

Some of the items it recommends packing in a bag to donate include mince pies, Christmas crackers, chocolates, shortbread, hot chocolate, and cheese crackers, as well as a Christmas card with a stamp.

Love Christmas won praise from both prime minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer last year. It is supported by award-winning musician Guvna B, whose real name is Isaac Borquaye.

Guvna B said: “It’s the human condition to want to help others, and people have put aside things that usually divide them to come together.

“The beautiful thing about this is it doesn’t matter who you are, where you have come from or what background you have, you can get involved and benefit from Love Christmas and make a positive impact to society.”

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, added: “It is wonderful to see such a diversity of networks, churches and people, working alongside each other to inspire greater hope and joy in streets and neighbourhoods across the United Kingdom.”

If you want to help donate, pack or deliver a “bag of kindness” for Love Christmas, visit loveyourneighbour.uk