WINCHESTER people are being urged to help a charitable initiative that is hoping to save Christmas for vulberable children from Hampshire by giving them presents this festive season.
Project Secret Santa is encouraging people and businesses to donate Secret Santa gifts to vulnerable children, from ages three to 18.
Signs and posters have been popping up across the city, as more businesses move to get involved with the joy-spreading project, that was set up by Winchester mum Georgina Abbott.
With the donations, the project makes and fills stockings for around 1800 children in care across the county. So far, they have filled 300 stockings.
Georgina, 47, founder of Project Secret Santa, said: "To be honest I’ve always struggled a bit with Christmas. There’s a lot of pressure to have these wonderful picture-perfect festive moments with our families but in reality it can be a really difficult time for people for lots of different reasons: they’re lonely, they’ve lost loved ones, they’re struggling with ill health or financially.
"I’ve always wished that Christmas could be more inclusive, not just for families who can afford it. I love to indulge my own children at Christmas and always have a lovely time coming up with ways to make them smile… and yet there are families out there who for a variety of reasons and circumstances have found themselves in situations where they are struggling to meet their families basic needs of food and heating, so buying Christmas presents seems impossible.
"Many don’t have support networks or wider family who can help so that’s where Project Secret Santa comes in, I thought I could try and engage volunteers locally to help try and prevent children from having to go without a present this Christmas."
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The stockings - all being lovingly handmade - will be filled with gifts such as books, magazines, Lego, games, science sets, craft kits, lip gloss, action figures and fluffy socks.
The project says there is a shortage of gifts for older children and teens as people buy more presents for younger children.
Georgina said: "If you're shopping on the high street, doing your own Christmas shopping, consider buying one more gift for a vulnerable child. It could make a really big difference to their Christmas."
Georgina was inspired to set up the Hampshire-based project after her husband collected donations of Christmas gifts for children aged three to 16 in social care in Oxfordshire last year.
In Winchester, there are two locations where people can drop off their gifts: Open House Deli and Sass & Edge, which helped inspire Georgina to take on the project.
People who are unsure of what gifts to buy can find ideas on Project Secret Santa's Amazon wishlist, which can be found by clicking here.
Sally Gott, co-owner of Sass & Edge, an independent womenswear boutique based in Market Street, Winchester, said: "We take on a different charity every year and we thought it was such a fantastic cause.
"It’s something that we had not really thought about before, it’s not until someone sits you down and says that there are children in this county who will not get a Christmas present this year, that it sinks in."
A Sew-Off will be held on Sunday, November 17 at Weeke Community Centre to make the stockings and a present-wrapping event will be held at the Hampshire Pantry on Thursday, November 21 from 10.30am until 12.30pm.
To get involved go to www.projectsecretsanta.co.uk .
Where are the stockings going?
Hampshire Children’s Services will be distributing the stockings to the most vulnerable children across the county, who would otherwise go without.
The stockings will also go to children who may find themselves going into foster care or care homes over the Christmas period and to struggling care leavers with young families of their own.
In addition, if there are gifts or donations that won’t fit in the stockings these will go to local refuges for parents and children fleeing domestic violence.
The project is also asking people if they are shopping on Winchester High Street, that they buy one more gift for a vulnerable child and take it along to drop boxes at Sass and Edge or Open House Deli.
The stockings will be filled with a combination of treats and essential items, so whatever you can provide, large or small will go towards a lovely stocking to make a child smile.
They would love things like hats, gloves, books, toys, shower gel, toothpaste, lip balm, shampoo, fluffy socks and water bottles.
The website www.projectsecretsanta.co.uk has details of all the locations where donations and gift suggestions can be made.
The project would also welcome donations from Hampshire businesses in the form of children’s hats and gloves or fluffy socks, festive chocolates, or stationery, toys, or toiletries.
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