As we creep towards the big day, Skout PR was pleased to read this heartwarming story this morning that record numbers of Manchester’s poorest families will have a present to open on Christmas day.
In its biggest ever gathering of gifts thanks to charitable donations, Wood Street Mission in Manchester has been able to give out more than 4,000 gifts this year.
The charity provides parents with a present chosen specially for their child’s age and gender along with wrapping paper so they can wrap it themselves.
Many of the toys given been donated by Wood Street Mission supporters, with the charity buying the rest to make sure every child who is referred gets a suitable present.
More than 2,000 families from the region were referred to the charity by social workers and other organisations for help this Christmas, the highest number ever.
For most of the children, the present will be the only thing they get to unwrap on Christmas morning and would otherwise have received no presents at all.
Parents coming to collect the gifts are also given a food parcel to help them while their children are off school and not receiving free meals.
Collection of the toys and food parcels – which include cupboard staples alongside festive treats like chocolate – starts in September, with everything given out to parents at the charity’s base of Deansgate.
What a fantastic initiative and well done to all those at Wood Street Mission that have helped create a happy Christmas for all those families.
