WATCH - we go behind the scenes at Mission Christmas HQ

What happens to all those donations, and where do they go?

Author: Mick CoylePublished 12th Dec 2022

It's a chilly December day, but that won't stop an army of volunteers making sure disadvantaged children don't miss out on a gift under the tree this year.

In a storage unit, set back from the main road, Mission Christmas HQ is bustling with life.

Room after room of gifts, separated by age group, are being sorted by teams of two and three to match up with applications that have come in from the local community.

Outside, case workers for disadvantaged children pull up with vans ready to pick up the gifts to deliver to families, temporary accommodation sites, and even schools.

We go inside Mission Christmas HQ

Each room has different amounts of gifts, in the site we visit, there are countless gifts for 3-5 year olds, but barely anything left for 9-12 year olds.

Gifts are donated directly by listeners, via one of our drop-off points, or through our Mission Christmas Wishlist.

Cash donations are used to buy gifts for age groups where there are gaps.

Rosalina Lobo is from Cash for Kids: "We can sometimes struggle for babies and teens, but this week we've been struggling with gifts for the 5-18 years aged group.

"Aged 3-5 we often get a surplus of gifts, but for 7-9yr olds and 9-12 yr olds, yesterday those rooms were pretty much empty and what that means is we get to a stage where we can't complete those appications, they're partially done because we cant fulfil those ages groups."

Rosalina tells us the generosity of donations is incredible.

As we speak, two women appear with a car containing £1300 worth of toys that they want to donate.

With the clock ticking, Rosalina knows her team is up against it to turn those gifts around, but its a challenge they're embracing.

She added: "Its a big pressure, but we're so grateful for gift donations and what we want to get across to people is we need a steady flow of donations.

"We're just so grateful for your help."

Find out how you can get involved in supporting Mission Christmas where you live

Hear all the latest news from across Lancashire on the hour, every hour, on 97.4FM, DAB, at rockfm.co.uk, and on the Rock FM app.