Kindness at Christmas 2024
At Guildford Action we are often overwhelmed at this time last year with offers of help, donations of toys, food, hats, scarves, and plenty of mince pies.
As a hand to mouth charity, we do not like to say no to anything, but in recent years we have looked at things slightly differently and we hope you understand why.
In previous years, we put this note out asking for people to rethink how they support us at Christmas time. We shared that in years gone by, we have received amazing donations of mountains of food, but sadly far too much gets thrown away. An incident one New Years eve stuck in our head where we had an abundance of food but desperately needed shoes for someone with trench foot, all he needed was decent shoes and all we could offer was more food.
At this time of year our family support office is often jam packed with many wonderful toys and gifts for the families we support. We see plenty of poverty and many do go without but, we knew that delivering sack full of presents to families was not really going to enhance their lives, it would simply make one day more bearable but probably the days that followed so much harder.
The days and weeks that follow Christmas sees us receive calls from families asking for help as they had no food left, are without electricity and have no funds to get to a hospital appointment. It certainly makes us think that the moment of joy for these children on Christmas Day does not make their lives much better at all.
There has been plenty of soul searching amongst ourselves about re-enforcing this sense that a good Christmas means lots of gifts and lots of food. It feels like we are setting a bar that would be relied upon next year and the message we are giving is ‘You need lots of presents and food, to make a real Christmas’.
Everything we do at Guildford Action is about relationships and empowering people to make real choices and have some control over their lives. To have a future that is safe and happier. This needs to happen 365 days per year and by showering with people over the festive period with all the extras, makes us feel better but it is just a moment in time.made.
Christmas is not a good time for many of the people we support, we try to play it down as much as possible as it is a stark reminder that they are away from family and everything they do not have seems magnified.
Last year we were happy that many people heard our message and instead of food, they donated vouchers, or paid for a family to attend the cinema or leisure centre or asked us exactly what we needed at that time. This meant that your gifts lasted us many months longer than in previous years, benefitted more people and we had no waste.
We rely on public support and generosity so we are in no way wanting to stop the kindness we receive. But the ladies and gents we see, are still poor in January and February and still in need of shoes in March and April and would love a trip to the cinema or swimming in June and July.
There is of course a need for us to receive donations of gifts and food at Christmas, but a far bigger need for us to provide the basics (and some extras) all year round.
Vouchers are always welcome and they will benefit more people for much longer. If, you wanted to specifically buy something such as jeans, shoes, coat or underwear for a specific person, we will always appreciate the opportunity to let you know what size etc and can make sure it gets to the right people at the right time. Spectrum, cinema and supermarket vouchers are also a great gift for the families we support.
We could not survive without you, our service users could not survive without you but our message is, help us to spread kindness all year round not just at Christmas.
If you wish to donate straight to Guildford Action, please click on the link
Guildford Action for Community Care – Donate now (cafonline.org)
Or, to become a Friend of Guildford Action and help us to support people throughout the year, please click on this link
Guildford Action for Community Care – Donate now (cafonline.org)
For more information, please contact Jo Tester info@guildfordaction.org.uk
