Mission Christmas - The Full Story
Did you support our Mission Christmas campaign? Read below to find out how you helped put a smile on the faces of 24,635 children living in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk.
Last updated 11th Jan 2019
Wow! What an end to 2018 that was. Thanks to everyone who bought a gift and donated it at one of our drop off points, donated cash via text or online, or held a fundraiser in aid of our Mission Christmas campaign. Thanks to the collective generosity of our supporters in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk we raised an incredible £1,216,131 in gifts and cash. Ensuring 24,635 kids received gifts at Christmas. That’s 24,635 kids with a wee smile on their face, thanks to you.
“When I get back on my feet and get another job I am going to buy presents to give to Mission Christmas appeal so that I can help other families the way you have helped mine” Dad of 2 teenagers
It really is heart-breaking to look at that number. 24,635. Its huge! The level of poverty in our area is on the rise, and although we can’t change this statistic, we can do as much as possible to make life easier for these children and families who are living in such difficult circumstances.
On reflection, this year’s Mission Christmas campaign really highlighted just how strong our support network is. With 4,000 more children applied for than ever before we had to work SO hard to ensure every application was completed. We were getting deliveries of toys and gifts steadily throughout the campaign, enabling us to complete applications for thousands of kids, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough. The number of applications was rising and it wasn’t until Tuesday 18th December that we were able to take a look around the warehouse and calculate how far we had to go.
“This year has been very stressful, I have been through a very difficult relationship breakdown and also made homeless and currently living in temporary accommodation. You have made our Christmas so less stressful then I thought it was going to be. I am eternally grateful” Single mum 2 children
With 14,586 kids’ applications completed we thought we were finally getting somewhere, but as we looked around the warehouse we knew we were substantially short on a number of key age groups – teenagers (15-18 years in particular), baby’s 0-18months, and 9-12 year old's. These are all age ranges that people don’t automatically buy a gift for. They’re a little harder to buy for, and therefore each year we rely on cash donations to buy a lot of these gifts ourselves.
That Tuesday evening we sat in our little makeshift office through the back of our HQ at The Gyle Shopping Centre and tried to come up with a plan. The thought of a child waking up to nothing on Christmas morning was breaking our hearts, never mind nearly 7,000 children. At that late stage and with so many gifts needed for the ‘hard to buy for’ age groups, we knew we just had to hope that you guys would support us, and deep down, we knew you would. That evening we went on air and put up a post on our social media pages asking for text/online donations. After a VERY sleepless night we couldn’t believe what we woke up to. £10,000 in text donations raised OVERNIGHT! With that and the added online donations things were looking so much more positive. That’s how amazing the support we have here in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and Falkirk is. Everyone came together, donating, sharing and spreading the word.
Every £5 donation added up to A LOT and for that we are eternally grateful. As the saying goes, a little certainly does go a long way!
We had a huge day on the Wednesday, our volunteers from Lloyds, Aegon, RBS and Blackrock worked their socks off all day, completing applications for a further 5,911 kids. Unbelievable work! Our regional manager Emma managed to negotiate incredible discounts from retailers, ensuring that we were able to purchase the remaining gifts needed to complete our Mission.
Thursday was another incredible day, with every single application fulfilled by 5pm – absolutely amazing. As I said, 24,635 is a huge, heart-breaking number, but a little does go a long way, and every gift bought, every text sent, every conversation had, every little thing that you did ensured that we completed our Mission.
We always hear from the social workers, teachers, and project workers that they wish we could see the faces of the families and children who receive the gifts. They are always so overwhelmed and thankful. Quite often with tears in their eyes they can’t quite believe that a bunch of strangers have shown such kindness towards them. Many of these families have both parents working, trying so hard to heat their homes, put food on the table, and provide for their kids. At Christmas especially, something has to give. Thanks to Cash for Kids and all of our amazing supporters these families were able to put food on the table, heat their homes AND provide gifts for their children on Christmas morning. These children are returning to school with happy memories and stories to tell. Santa DID visit them, they ARE worthy, and they can chat about the gifts they received. They’re confident and proud of who they are, and that's all thanks to you.
It's hard for us to compile feedback from Mission Christmas as it is such a sensitive subject for most families, but below you can read quotes from groups that were able to share them.
“How did Santa know what I liked – I am so happy” Girl P3
Thanks again, together we DID make a difference.
Cash for Kids isn’t just for Christmas, kids in our area need our support all year round. If you want to find out more about how you can get involved this year please call 0131 475 1332 or email cashforkids@radioforth.com
Alice, Vic, Emma and Ian. X
Team Forth Cash for Kids