We would like to say thank you to everyone who has donated, wrapped, collected, delivered and sorted all the presents for our referrals this Christmas. We have gifted over 1000 (a thousand!) presents, and 100 food treat parcels. These have all gone to families who have been referred through Social Services, Health Visitors, Police Liaison Officers, Pastoral Support Workers, The Human Trafficking Unit, Women’s Refuges etc. All families have to meet our criteria. These include children in poverty, living in temporary accommodation (normally one room), who have been neglected, or witnessed domestic violence. They will all wake up with a big smile on their faces, and this will hopefully be the start of a better future for them all. Some of the thank you messages we have received – “I received some Christmas gifts from you for my son. I was not expecting to receive anything for myself but I am so grateful for everything. I only had one present ready for him, but now he has so many things to open. I’m overwhelmed by your kindness. Thank you so much.”; “Just wanted to say a huge thank you to your charity for the donations that ******** received today. We were both amazed by the generosity, which has made a huge difference to ****** and her children. This has made her move into their new home much easier.”; ” Thank you so much for all your hard work yesterday, rallying around to find presents for one of our vulnerable families, especially as you were just finishing for Christmas. I really appreciated your efforts in collating Christmas presents and clothing for the children. I delivered the presents today, and would just like to feed back that the mother was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of Ashleys Birthday Bank. She said “I now feel Christmassy” – it was very heart warming to hear that this will make a real difference to the family. Thank you again for this amazing service for our vulnerable families, and I would like you to know it really does mean so much to our families” – We couldn’t do this without all your support, and it is truly humbling to be able to help local families, who otherwise would have a very difficult time. Thank you to you all
