DELIVERING CHRISTMAS TO HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES

29 Nov

The Christmas Hamper Appeal will be helping families celebrate together with 200 hampers filled with food and seasonal cheer delivered right to the door.

On Friday 23rd December 2022 a fleet of 70 drivers will be hitting the road to bring hampers packed with enough for family needs to eat and celebrate for three days. The project is a partnership led by Citygate Church and Bournemouth Foodbank that brings together a network of local groups who care about families.

Over 64 local businesses, charities, statutory agencies and community groups have already registered their support for the project. In the lead up to Christmas, they will be nominating families, pledging food donations, recruiting volunteers and raising funds.

The church wants to express their deepest thanks to all the organisations who have already registered as partners:

Asda Bournemouth; Avonbourne Academies; BCHA; BCP Council; Bethany CE Junior School; Bishop Aldhelm's Primary School; Boscombe Salvation Army/BH1 Project; Bournemouth & Poole Home Education Community; Bournemouth Community Church; Bournemouth East Cliff Rotary Club; Bournemouth Foodbank; Bournemouth Town Centre Parish; Bournemouth University; Britannia Leatherbarrows; Catch The Fire Church; Central Bournemouth PCN; Citygate Church; Coastline Vineyard Church; County Foods Ltd; Dorset Community Foundation; Dorset Healthcare; Envista Branding; Faithworks CMA; Foresters Financial; Heart and Soul Studio Ltd; Help & Care; Holy Family Parish; Hope Community Church; Hope FM; Hope For Food; Jesus Reigns Ministries UK; Jewell Academy; LV=; Magna Academy Poole; Makro Poole; Mayor of Bournemouth; Moby Micks Mobile Fish & Chips; Moordown Baptist Church; Nurturing by Nature; Parent Carer Foundation; Plymouth Brethren Christian Church; Poole Audi; Poole Bay Methodist Circuit; Redside; Rita Jenvey School of Dancing; Safe Families; SAMEE; Sauce Labs - Sauce Good Humans; Seetec Pluss; Sexual health Dorset; Space &Time Media; St. Ambrose, Westbourne; St. Christopher's Church; St. Pauls Church; St. Saviour's Church, Iford; SWR Traincrew; The Cross Road Ministry - UK; The HealthBus Trust; Toadstall Plants; Trinity URC; Verwood Delivery Elves; Winton Salvation Army; YMCA Bournemouth; Your Eco Gardener.

Last year, a total of 70 partners teamed up to deliver 200 hampers feeding 714 people (327 adults & 387 children). This was made possible by harnessing the resources and passion of a large network of local groups. Some pledge food and funds to fill the hampers while others recruit volunteers to help. But the most exciting partnerships are with those frontline agencies who support these families all year round.

“It is collaborating together at times like this to help people who normally feel excluded and marginalised to come together as a family and feel ‘normal’ that makes our work so worthwhile.
Without your generosity of spirit and the help of all the people who donated to your hamper appeal, the clients that I work with would not have had Christmas at all. This would have led to them feeling even more isolated and their mental health would have been impacted.
I cannot thank you enough for the effort and time you put into this. The phone calls from happy clients brought tears to my eyes.
I sometimes think that we have no idea what a difference we can make to people’s lives when we try.”

Jan, Social Prescriber for Help and Care

Each hamper contained enough food and festive cheer to last them for three days including a whole chicken, fresh vegetables, Christmas pudding and a £10 toy voucher. They also received a Christmas card with our message of hope from the Bible written inside. Thanks to so many groups who collected food and donated money, we were able to pass on this generosity to families who otherwise feel like they have little to celebrate.

“We were struggling because of benefits and bills and not being able to get out of the house to do the shopping. I’m a carer for my mum so life is tough. It made my Christmas when it arrived. It was huge! I was just expecting a few bits and bobs but it was Christmas all at once. I could feel my worries go away for a little while because I knew that we could be like everyone else and spend Christmas together having a proper Christmas with proper food.”

A family of 3 generations all with long term health conditions

“Thank you so much for the hamper. It contained a Christmas that we would never have had. We were absolutely amazed by the generosity of everyone involved. It helped us to have a proper Christmas that we could never have afforded.
The looks on the kids’ faces said it all to me and made me cry and made everything more bearable.”

A family of 5 in temporary accommodation

The Christmas Hamper Appeal has been a partnership between Citygate Church and Bournemouth Foodbank for six years. Groups or individuals can find how they can get involved here: https://citygate.church/hampers.

Originally released by Citygate Church here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WsMs4r2W6r5iXf1nM4BxqogqpgZI-6lcKoBL899Mk7o/