Charities deliver Christmas presents to children in poverty

‘I don’t think I can wait until Christmas to open this. Thank you,’ says one receipient

A man walks past closed shops on Regent Street, London. Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled Christmas for almost 18 million people across London and eastern and south-east England following warnings from scientists of the rapid spread of the new variant of coronavirus. (PA)

Figures show 120,000 children have been driven into poverty due to the pandemic, meaning a number of children are set to miss out on presents this Christmas.

But charities and good-willed citizens are acting as Santa Claus, helping to ensure children can still have a smile on 25 December. 

School-Home Support (SHS), an education charity, has delivered almost 2,000 Christmas presents to children who would otherwise miss out.

Jaine Stannard, Chief Executive of SHS, said that 2020 has highlighted the “inequalities in society.”

"More children than ever face a Christmas without gifts. We are so grateful to our corporate partners for enabling us to ensure that almost 2,000 children don’t have to wake up on Christmas morning without a present.”

Overall, the pandemic has pushed the total number of people in the UK living in poverty to more than 15 million – 23 per cent of the population – according to the Legatum Institute, which uses poverty measures developed by the independent Social Metrics Commission.

Further data published by Save the Children indicate that 37 per cent of families on Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit will turn to food parcels over the festive period, while 21 per cent of those on the benefits, or about 760,000, will rely on donated gifts.

To make the strained Christmas period easier, charities have been stepping in to provide gifts to some of the UK’s poorest children, and individuals have also been sending presents to children through internet wishlists.

The Hartlepool Giving Tree raised over 170,000 presents through donations and was able to expand its remit throughout the UK.

Tegan Thompson, who received a gift in Blackpool through School-Home Support, said: “I don’t think I can wait until Christmas to open this. Thank you!”

Action for Children has been running a Secret Santa drive, which you can either participate in yourself or gift as a Christmas present for someone else. The gifts within their drive include a day of food for a child’s Christmas, a pair of winter boots, and food and essentials for four days in emergency accommodation. 

You can also include a note with your gift, with one person – named under the pseudonym Barney Happy Sprout – saying "What a great way to spend all the money I will be saving "not going out" this Christmas."

Schools are also getting involved in supporting less-fortunate children to have brighter Christmases. 

Pupils at LVS Oxford, a specialist school for autistic children, have been collecting items through a reverse advent calendar – where goods are collected for 24 days through November to December – and have now donated hundreds of items to the Shipton Hub Food Bank.

Brenda Gatwicke of the Shipton Hub Food Bank described the donations as a “miracle” after they were concerned over a shortfall in donations and possibly disappointed families. 

“With their help, and all the toys, books, and gifts donated, we were able to fill more boxes than anticipated and extend our outreach”.

The Ravenhall Group, an  insurance firm based in Leeds, tells The Independent that they donated 200 advent calendars to the Leeds North and West Foodbank, with one employee saying “this was just a bit of chocolate every day just to give [the children] something to look forward to. We called it ”operation make a child smile””. 

The firm also donated their Secret Santa funds to the same foodbank, rather than spend it on gifts for eachother. 

The Salvation Army are another charity who have been collecting presents for children so that they don’t miss out on Christmas Day. But due to the pandemic, some branches were only able to accept online donations. 

They say that all over the country they’re expecting “increased demand” from families in need.