Community contributions this Christmas
This Christmas, Action Homeless will be supporting over 250 people experiencing homelessness. Due to the ongoing cost of living emergency, we fear an overall increase in homelessness and we know that this time of year will be particularly challenging for many people. We are ready to respond by offering personalised support to break the cycle of homelessness this festive season. Along with our online donation platform, a key aspect of our Christmas Appeal is our Wishlist, where we ask for donations such as gift sets, hats gloves and scarves, and Christmas chocolates biscuits and sweets. These donations are then packed into gift bags and distributed to people experiencing homelessness who are living in our properties over Christmas.
These gift bags are designed to be a festive treat to be opened on Christmas day, something to brighten up a time of year which can be very difficult for individuals living in temporary accommodation. This year we had a fantastic response from the local businesses here in Leicester, with donations from Next, CDS, Business 2 Business and Qualvis. We also had donations put together by staff and pupils from Tudor Grange Samworth Academy and The Pochin School. We really value the contribution of physical donations from businesses, schools, and individuals in the wider community at this time of year, the items that we receive make it possible to bring some added festive magic to all of our properties.
A vital part of the process of getting the gift bags out to people living in temporary accommodation is sorting through donations and getting them packed up and ready to be delivered. We couldn’t do this without help from our enthusiastic teams of corporate volunteers. This year we received support from Anthony James Insurance Brokers and Twin Group. We also welcomed back some of our regular volunteers from Druck Baker Hughes and AXA. Our volunteers take great care in packing up each gift bag to make sure all of our clients get something special to open this Christmas, and we really appreciate the time that they volunteer to make this happen.
It’s not too late to donate to support our online Christmas Appeal, every donation counts, and will be used not only during the festive season but to support those experiencing homeless into the new year.