Our incredible journey began in December 1987, when we delivered our very first 25 Christmas hampers. Since then, the Christmas Hamper Campaign has grown year after year. Working closely with social services, schools, and local charities, what started as a once-a-year appeal has blossomed into a year-round lifeline for the most disadvantaged people in our community.
Today, our reach extends far beyond the festive season. To ensure children are fed when schools are closed, we run Holiday Hunger Campaigns during the February half-term, Easter, and summer breaks, supplying food/vouchers directly to schools for local families.
We also step in during emergencies through our Crisis Requests program, providing families with essential furniture, bedding, small appliances, and household necessities.
We officially became a registered charity in September 2021. We are completely run by six dedicated trustees who volunteer their time without any remuneration or expense claims.
Everything we achieve is thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters—we truly cannot thank you enough.
Pat McBride tells how it all began; "
"The inspiration for what I and so many others now do was a pastoral council meeting when a young mother spoke about the impact of her husband being unemployed. She told us how they had sunk into depths of despair but had been lifted out of it by acts of kindness and love. That year I worked with pupils at Newlands School, where I was teaching, and got together 25 hampers.”
In the intervening years, Pat has been totally dedicated to helping others and in 2018 received a British Empire Medal for her services to the community.