Doubled from the year previous, the annual Kids Inspire Appeal has wrapped and delivered 2,850 charity Christmas gifts this year. Alongside, over 700 food hampers have been delivered to families across Essex as well.  

Volunteers and Supporters 

The Christmas Appeal would not have been possible without all our supporters and organisations who made donations, provided gifts, and made up food hampers. With additional thanks and appreciation to our 220 volunteers who gifted a total of 944 hours wrapping and delivering to make this happen. Our Christmas Appeal Co-ordinator, Siobhan Drew, said:

“Every year I am amazed that so many are willing to give up their free time, and that many want to gift and donate. We couldn’t host the appeal without this support, and we are all truly grateful.” - Siobhan Drew, Christmas Appeal Co-ordinator

Nominations 

Christmas is a particularly hard time of year for so many and we know that the cost-of-living crisis is driving disadvantaged households further into poverty.

“Around 14.4 million people were living in poverty in the UK in 2021/2022, according to the government’s official statistics. That is around one in five people. A total of 4.2 million children were affected.” -  The Big Issue reported in October 2023

When talking about nominations to the Kids Inspire Christmas Appeal, Siobhan went on to say:  

“This year, unsurprisingly, we have received a record number of nominations but thanks to the huge operation going on behind the scenes, we have, once again, met demand for requested support.  

It is so humbling to know that because of everyone involved, 2,851 children and young people will be receiving a gift, and 700 families a hamper.”

Who Nominates? 

The nominations for the appeal came from around 100 schools across all 14 districts, from Social Workers and from our own team of Therapists. Working across the county, gifts and hampers were delivered to schools in places such as Basildon, Canvey Island, Colchester, Harlow and Southend.  

Knowing that gifts are going to families like Sophie’s, makes the Christmas Appeal mean even more.

“Sophie’s mum struggles with her mental health and there seems to be a case of neglect within the house. Sophie spoke to me about how the family has very little money.” - Family Health Care Officer. 

Each year, we cannot know every child’s story and the reason they were nominated. But we do often hear words of humbling gratitude from the people who put them forward:  

“We’d like to say thank you to all the people who have generously donated to the Kids Inspire Christmas Appeal. The food and hampers will make an impact on our community. Without the appeal, we wouldn’t know that some of our more vulnerable families would be able to provide presents for their children, but we now know that every child in the school is going to have a present this Christmas.” Family Support & Inclusion Coordinator, Kings Road School, Chelmsford 

The words mean so much to us that we have a whole page on our website dedicated to them! 

Who Helped The Appeal Happen? 

Over the past weeks, Kids Inspire HQ has been buzzing with corporate and individual supporters and volunteers. Each one spends valuable time collecting, wrapping, dropping or delivering gifts and hampers.  

Collections 

From Dunelm, Tesco and our corporate supporters, to long-term supporters and Ambassadors ‘Lane Line and Sleigh Belles’, to new supporters ‘Mille and Florrie’s Toy Drive’. Heartwarming gift and hamper collections have been hosted countywide and we couldn’t have achieved all we achieved without their valuable support, thank you all! 

• Asda Heybridge  

• Baker Labels 

• Birketts 

• Blue Egg Great Barfield 

• Bright & Son 

• Cloud Colchester 

• County Garden Management 

• Debut Training 

• DHL 

• Dunelm Chelmsford   

• Dunelm Colchester  

• EJ Taylor & Sons 

• Entertainer Chelmsford 

• Exterior Plas 

• Foresters 

• Home Bargains Maldon 

• Iceland Springfield Rd 

• JC Solutions 

• JMC Drywall 

• John Lewis 

• KEFCO 

• Laing O'Rouke 

• Lane Line and Sleigh Belles

• Laser Electrical 

• LDD Construction 

• Millie and Florrie’s Toy Drive 

• Morrisons Chelmsford 

• Porsche Colchester 

• RDC Braintree 

• Rotary Club Clacton 

• Tan Boutique 

• Tangent Billericay 

• Taylor Wimpey 

• Tesco Maldon

• Utilize 

• Victoria Inn Pub – Burnham 

“It is great to have a community around us where we can happily say we were able to raise multiple funds and collect many gifts in just 1 week! We hope this encourages others to help whether that be through donations or volunteering, every little helps, and ultimately plays a critical part in changing a child’s life for the better.” - Joe Buckman, Porsche Colchester

Wrapping  

The art of selecting from our impeccably ordered store of gifts – thank you, Volunteer, Shelley! – and then carefully wrapping is so important to the appeal. When wrapping for a child, you also need to wrap for their siblings, young and old, carefully thinking about what you select for each, and adding a food hamper if required. This mammoth workshop is all going on behind the scenes with our wonderful volunteers from corporate supporters to individuals involved. Every minute of the 944 hours has been so well spent and appreciated, thank you all for the gift of time. 

• Aegon UK   

• Barker Associates  

• Birkett Long   

• Birkett's  

• Blackstone  

• Bond Residential Estate Agents of Chelmsford   

• Bright & Sons Solicitors   

• CHP   

• EMJ   

• Forresters   

• Essex and Suffolk Water   

• GIC   

• Hill Group UK   

• HSBC    

• KEFCO SALES LIMITED   

• Sodexo   

• Stonebond  

• Taylor Wimpey plc   

• The Hill Group  

• Utilize Plc 

Dropping Gifts 

First up, are our incredible community that finds the time to drop in with gifts galore! Across four weeks (+) we enjoy meeting and hearing the stories of everyone who has dropped in gifts in support of the appeal. A highlight from these stories: multiple young children told us that they wanted to gift to the appeal instead of receiving birthday gifts themselves – what lovely young people they are! 

Amazon delivered a record number of gifts from our Wishlist this year all donated from the supportive community answering our regular calls for help. Often our ‘calls’ went out on socials when our store of gifts was depleted; you did not disappoint!  

We could not have reached the 2,851 children and young people without this ongoing generosity, thank you all!  

Deliveries  

The final step to ensuring demand is met is the logistical task of delivering gifts to multiple schools across the 14 districts of Essex. Alongside ongoing deliveries from our corporate supporters, we also had massive support from Essex and Suffolk Water and CHP. The loan of their drivers and vehicles - doubling up as elves and sleighs - meant we could load up the vans at HQ and send them out to the furthest to reach destinations. Thank you all for your patience and support it made the magical job of delivery, manageable! 

And Finally 

Financial donations are still being welcomed to core costs. During the appeal they were spent daily on ‘top-up’ gifts for any age groups that were missing or for wrapping paper – we got through hundreds of metres this year and had to buy a huge amount to meet the additional demand. Many businesses and individuals donated to the appeal financially, and for that, we are truly grateful. 

• HSBC 

• Savills  

That’s A Wrap! 

The Christmas Appeal is a huge collective effort from staff, volunteers, corporates, and the Essex community (and even beyond Essex!). No one's part in our appeal goes unnoticed. But it honestly could not be achieved without colleagues such as Siobhan, Victoria, Emma and Louise!  

They've been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the appeal—creating the Amazon Wishlist, coordinating gift deliveries, liaising with schools and social workers, and organising our dedicated volunteers. These are just a handful of the things they do!  

Thank you all for everything you have done for the appeal. We have just a few more school deliveries left and a handful of gifts to be collected and that's it for this year!