Urgent plea for donations to help Fife Gift of Christmas as deadline looms

Fife’s Gift of Christmas appeal has made an urgent plea for help as organisers reveal they are extremely short of donations for the most vulnerable children in the Kingdom.

By Debbie Clarke

Published 7th Dec 2021, 16:11 BST

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The appeal, which is now in its sixth year, aims to ensure that every child has a present to open on Christmas Day but it needs the help of locals to make this happen.

Kate Hope, one of the parents who organises the annual event, said they are very short of donations of Christmas gifts and there are only a few days left before the drop-off points and the Amazon Wishlists close on Sunday,

She revealed there are a number of age groups they still need presents for.

This pic shows how many children and young people the appeal has Christmas gift applications for, for each age/gender group (the number written in chalk). The bags at the back are bags volunteers have already put together for youngsters, with a minimum selection of the lovely gifts which have been donated so far inside. The loose items at the front are waiting to go into bags. Pic: Fife Gift of Christmas Appeal.

This pic shows how many children and young people the appeal has Christmas gift applications for, for each age/gender group (the number written in chalk). The bags at the back are bags volunteers have already put together for youngsters, with a minimum selection of the lovely gifts which have been donated so far inside. The loose items at the front are waiting to go into bags. Pic: Fife Gift of Christmas Appeal.

Kate said: “We are very very short of donations.

"We have received applications for nearly 1300 children and young people, our biggest year yet.

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"We have seen donations at drop off points be the slowest ever in six years. Whilst we have received many generous donations so far, the gap between what we have and what we need is significant, especially in the 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 age groups, and also the teenagers.

This pic shows how many children and young people the appeal has Christmas gift applications for, for each age/gender group (the number written in chalk). The bags at the back are bags volunteers have already put together for youngsters, with a minimum selection of the lovely gifts which have been donated so far inside. The loose items at the front are waiting to go into bags. Pic: Fife Gift of Christmas Appeal.

This pic shows how many children and young people the appeal has Christmas gift applications for, for each age/gender group (the number written in chalk). The bags at the back are bags volunteers have already put together for youngsters, with a minimum selection of the lovely gifts which have been donated so far inside. The loose items at the front are waiting to go into bags. Pic: Fife Gift of Christmas Appeal.

“We are hoping for one final push over the next few days. We have had to add 3-5 and 6-8 age gifts to our Amazon Wishlist for the first time ever - we usually only use Amazon for the teenagers and the 9-12 age group, as these are the groups we usually struggle with most.”

She said they believe there is a shortfall in donations this year due to people working from home, having less money to spent and items costing more.

“We can only assume that the shortfall is due to Covid, people staying at home/working from home, people having less money to spend, things costing more, job losses etc etc, affecting the people who donate,” she said.

"We also are receiving less 'office collections' as people are not working in their offices as much.”

She added: “If people could help us with this final push for donations we would be very grateful.”

To find out information including local drop-off points visit the website at Gift of Christmas Appeal Fife or the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GiftOfChristmasAppealFIFE

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