Fears more kids need your help as Mission Christmas campaign begins

Our charity Cash for Kids is warning the number of disadvantaged youngsters in Tayside and Fife has risen due to the pandemic.

It's as we launch this year's Mission Christmas campaign, more than 2,000 applications for a present have already been received.

Radio Tay's charity manager Claire Anderson said: "The expectation from our point of view is that given a lot of people have unfortunately fallen on really hard times this year, due to everything that's happened with the pandemic, we expect the number of applications will increase.

"Because of the impact of COVID-19 we have had to significantly reduce the number of our drop off points, so we're not sure what the impact will be in terms of the number of gifts we will receive.

"We used to have about 200 drop off points across our area, this year we've got 18. There's a massive reduction there, but the reason is to keep everyone safe."

Over the years the campaign has supported groups like Action for Children, which helps teenagers sleeping rough.

"We've used Mission Christmas for the last three or four years and it's meant that some of our young people and families have been waking up with something on Christmas Day, that they wouldn't have otherwise," said Dundee branch manager Claire Miller.

"For older children, the thing that we really appreciate is hats, scarves and gloves. They keep our young people warm in the winter."

This year will see a collaboration with Dundee City Council in a bid to help as many youngsters as possible.

Council leader John Alexander said: "We're combing forces with Radio Tay to make sure we can reach more of those young people, more of those families, and we can deliver more than we ever have done.

"By combing forces we've got more resources, more people, and I think we can do so much more together."

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