52 Lives

#79 Lots of Children!

Request: Christmas Presents

52 Lives Christmas Project

This week, we are running our annual Christmas Project, where we try to give presents to children who may otherwise not receive any.

A couple of months ago, we asked people to nominate a school or children centre whose children may be in need of help. The plan was to identify schools or centres where there would be a high number of children whose families struggle to buy Christmas presents.

Thankyou so much for all of your wonderful nominations. Without them we wouldn’t be able to reach the people who need help. I’ve been in touch with many of the schools nominated – some felt they didn’t need help and asked us to help those in more need, and some we may be able to help in future weeks. But for this week we are helping one school and one children’s centre - Park Primary Pupil Referral Unit and Rosehill & Littlemore Children's Centre.

(Please note - they are both from the UK as we only received 1 nomination for a school outside the UK, who we plan to help in a future week!)

Park Primary Pupil Referral Unit in Bradford, UK.

Park Primary Pupil Referral Unit is small school, with just 41 children. All of the pupils have complex emotional and behavioural difficulties with associated learning difficulties – they’re referred to this school by the Primary Behaviour Panel because their needs can’t be met in a mainstream school.

A lot of the children arrive with a pretty negative view of education. But the school works hard to build their self-esteem and confidence from the moment they step through the door. Many of the children are from deprived backgrounds, and sadly a significant number will receive either very few or no Christmas presents this year.

The school has always tried to buy every child a Christmas presents every single year if they can. But funding cuts this year has meant that it might not be possible…. We would love to do it for them.

"A special gift would mean the world to the children we have here at Park Primary. Despite all of the difficulties in their past and, for many, in the present, they all still manage to come to school and we do our best to create a happy and safe environment. For some our school is the only consistent and stable thing in their lives. We would love to give them something back to say Thank You for the efforts they have made despite the difficulties they got through on a daily basis."

David Kiss, Assistant Headteacher

Rosehill & Littlemore Children's Centre in Oxford, UK

This children’s centre is a lifeline for so many local families. They provide quality education, childcare and health services for children under 5, as well as adult education, and return to work support for the wider community. They also undertake crucial family support and outreach services with the families that need them most – helping vulnerable parents, offering support to deal with often complex issues.

The centre is located in an area of Oxford which includes some of the most deprived (top 10%) of places in the UK. Many of the families using the centre are struggling, and could do with a little bit of kindness.

We would love to be able to give the children some special treats to take home.

“Local families strive to provide the best for their children within their means. However, for some families this falls short of their dreams and aspirations. Many families are finding it particularly difficult at the moment. Rose Hill and Littlemore communities pull together in difficult times, despite their own personal troubles; they are always willing to help each other. We would really appreciate support to help make this Christmas extra special.”

Rosehill & Littlemore team

NEWLY ADDED 

Petal's Daycare, Belfast

Petal's Daycare in Belfast is part of Windsor Women's Centre. It is situated in an area which experiences an extremely high level of health deprivation, social exclusion, economic marginalisation and environmental decay. The Centre provides vital services to women and their families. The Centre’s Daycare service Petals has 3 Childcare Units for children aged 0-4 and an After-schools for children up to eleven yrs. We would love to be able to give the children some Christmas gifts this year.

"We really appreciate the opportunity your charity has made to enable us to bring a little brightness into our children's lives this year. Thank you so much from all the women and children at Windsor Womens Centre. Happy Christmas!" 

Petal's Daycare team

What We Need

Christmas presents! 

Both schools have set up Amazon wishlists and carefully selected gifts for the children, as well as some essential items the children may need. If possible, please stick to buying from these wishlists, as they include the right number of gifts and those that their teachers felt were most suitable. Thankyou!

Buy a gift for a student at Park Primary (the giftlist address will show the name David Kiss)

Buy a gift for a child at Rosehill & Littlemore (the giftlist address will show the name Sherry Landa)

Gifts will be sent straight to the schools - you just select their giftlist address at checkout.

PLEASE NOTE: These wishlists have been bought already! So we have decided to also help Petal's Daycare this week

Buy a gift for a child at Petal's Daycare

What We Did

Thanks to all of you sharing, liking and buying gifts, almost 200 children received Christmas presents who may otherwise have had none. And it’s impossible to quantify the difference that may have made in a young child’s life. What you all do every week – no matter how big or small - is life changing.

“Thank you 52 lives and all of your wonderful supporters. You have made a huge difference to the children we support at Park Primary PRU at a time that can often be difficult for them. As you provided such special contributions with the gifts you bought we invited Santa to school to add a bit of magic to our final week and the children absolutely loved it. The appreciation shown by all children was very heartfelt to the point where there were many tears in the eyes of our staff. You helped create a very special day at what should be a very special time of year for every child. We cannot thank you enough for your immense kindness.”
All staff and children at Park Primary PRU
“Everyone here wants to thank 52 Lives for their generosity. Feedback from families has been great. The children were very excited and for some families this was a bright moment during quite a difficult Christmas.”
The staff and children at Rose Hill
“We really appreciate the opportunity your charity has made to enable us to bring a little brightness into our children's lives this year. We are completely overwhelmed by the response. The kindness and generosity of everyone is amazing. Thankyou so much the work you do. It is truly amazing."
All the women and children at Windsor Womens Centre

Thank You Notes from the Children