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It’s almost that time of year again! Christmas is approaching and here at Fresh Start our work towards our Christmas Campaign has begun!

For many parents, the pressure to give their children a magical Christmas can lead to debt, making it harder to pay rent or bills and sometimes pushing back families to the brink of homelessness. The season, meant for joy, can become a source of anxiety.

At Fresh Start, we aim to bring back the magic by providing Christmas presents not only for children but also for parents and individuals transitioning from homelessness. Everyone deserves something to look forward to at Christmas.

Our festive food hampers include special treats like advent calendars and Christmas chocolates, bringing joy to the families and individuals we support. You can help by donating items from our Festive Food list. We also collect gifts for parents and others through Giving Trees in workplaces, schools, and more.

Finally, our Cookers for Christmas 2024 - JustGiving raises funds for essential white goods, preventing families from being pushed into homelessness. Your support means a brighter Christmas and a more secure future for those in need.

Thank you for helping us make this Christmas special!  

Here's 3 ways you can get involved:

1.    Festive Food Collections

Please consider organising a collection of festive food items that would make a huge difference to the Christmas hampers we send out to families and individuals across Edinburgh.

Our only requirements are that goods donated are in date, cupboard items (as in non-perishable, not to be stored in the fridge/freezer), and non-alcoholic.

We ask that these items can be donated sometime before the 6th of December. 

2.  A Christmas Giving Tree

This idea works great in workplaces, places of worship, schools or any communal areas that have a Christmas tree! We can provide you with Xmas tree-ornaments in the form of tags with present suggestions on them. Visitors, staff, students etc can pick an ‘ornament’ tag with a present suggestion on it i.e. ‘shower pamper set’, 'warm hat, gloves and scarf' or ‘baking equipment’ for example.

Please drop items at our Warehouse before Friday the 6th of December.
If the donation drive is large, we can come and collect with our volunteer van drivers, snap some pictures for shared social channels and awareness before working to distribute in the first week or two of December.

We distribute everything we collect for the Christmas appeal within the first couple of weeks of December in order to prevent parents and other adults we support from going into debt by trying to provide for their families and friends over this period of giving.

 

 

 

 

3. Donating to and Sharing the Cookers for Christmas Campaign

Not everyone enjoys a Merry Christmas. For those with little or no money, purchasing a cooker or other white good item can be an unaffordable luxury. Fresh Start's Cookers for Christmas Campaign helps those in need by providing cookers and other essential white goods.
Please consider donating and sharing. Whether through your family and friends, work, social media or email network, sharing our Cookers for Christmas Campaign really helps our donation total and means we can get white goods out to those who need them across Edinburgh. See more through the link here: Cookers for Christmas 2024 - JustGiving

Watch Fresh Start's Cookers for Christmas video here: 
https://youtu.be/ewqQPh64fWo?si=vTHzwVhwewBKmOKM