Fresh Start's Christmas Campaigns!

It's that time of year again, and we’re asking for your help with Fresh Start's Christmas campaigns!

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!

3 Ways You Can Help:

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 5th 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 5^th 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

Donate to Cookers For Christmas here

Watch Fresh Start's Cookers for Christmas video here: 

Feedback from previous years, shows the impact that the Christmas campaigns make to the families and individuals who benefit from them:

“A welcome relief during this especially hard time, it took some pressure off with being able to stock the cupboards to ease the shopping costs this holiday season.”

“The children were ecstatic to see all the lovely treats! Such a great help at this time of year when money is stretched thin.”

“It really takes some of the stress away knowing I have what I need in this time.”

Donation drop-off at 22-24 Ferry Road Drive, EH4 4BR

Donation hours:

Mon-Thurs: 9am - 4pm

Fri: 9am - 1pm

Thank you as always for your ongoing support. If you would like further information on our services, would like to volunteer, donate goods or support Fresh Start financially, please contact us. 

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