Make Christmas possible in Newry by donating a Christmas present | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Make Christmas possible in Newry by donating a Christmas present

‘Tis the season to be merry – but for many children living below the poverty line in Northern Ireland, only disappointment awaits at the foot of the Christmas tree.

Which is why Cool FM and Downtown Radio’s ‘Cash for Kids’ charity kicked off its festive campaign this week.

‘Mission Christmas’ is a nationwide gift donation drive which will see all the local branches of Harry Corry, including the one at Hill Street, Newry, and 220 other businesses across Northern Ireland act as “drop off points” for the public to donate a gift for a disadvantaged child.

Cash for Kids Charity Manager, Darren Fowler explained, “It is estimated that nearly 1 in 10 children in Northern Ireland live in severe poverty and in some areas this is as high as 1 in 4 – twice the UK average.

“This is such a special time of the year and Mission Christmas is all about trying to give children in desperate need the chance of having a normal, happy Christmas. We’re looking for donations of new toys, clothes, games – anything which would put a smile of a kid’s face on Christmas morning!”

Mark Corry of campaign sponsors Harry Corry added, “We all have special memories of waking up to gifts on Christmas morning and we’d ask everyone to bear them in mind this year and think about what memories some less fortunate children will make this Christmas if we don’t help.”

Last year the campaign helped to ‘deliver Christmas’ to over 2650 children in Northern Ireland but Campaign Manager, Darren Fowler expects the demand this year to be greater than ever. “In 2011 we had just 1200 applications for gifts. Last year this had more than doubled 2650 and we’re expecting a significant increase in applications again this year.

“While the green shoots of an economic recovery seem to be showing through for business, the recovery doesn’t seem to be filtering down to the most vulnerable families in our community.”

The public are asked to go to www.coolfm.co.uk/missionchristmas or www.downtown.co.uk/missionchristmas to find their nearest collection point.

All gifts will be collected and sorted by age before being distributed to lists of local children. Cash donations can also be made online, in person or over the phone by calling 028 9181 5555; all donations will make sure no child who has applied to Cash for Kids for Support in Northern Ireland goes without this Christmas.

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=37033

Posted by on Nov 22 2013. Filed under Community, What's On. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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