This Christmas, our trust is calling on the public to join our colleagues and donate a gift to our annual Christmas Bag Project.
The project is run by our New Leaf team, which supports care leavers aged 16-25 who face emotional or mental health difficulties, often without family support.
It provides young people with a Christmas bag filled with thoughtful gifts to open on Christmas Day, including toiletries, crafts and games, reminding them they are not alone at what can be a difficult time of year.
Donations can be made by purchasing an item from the project’s Amazon Wish List.
Louise Goodge, Clinical Lead for New Leaf, said: “For many care leavers, these gifts are the only presents they will open on Christmas Day, and they bring real comfort at what can be a difficult time. It means so much to be able to help brighten their Christmas with something thoughtful and personal.
“We’ve been able to donate around 125 Christmas bags over the past five years, including 35 last year, and that is entirely down to the remarkable generosity of colleagues and the public.”
One care leaver who received a Christmas Bag said: “I just want to say a genuine massive thank you. You didn’t need to do all that for me, but you did, and I’m really chuffed with it. It really made me smile.”
We kindly ask that all donations arrive by Tuesday, 9 December, to allow time for wrapping and distribution. Items can be sent directly from Amazon or posted to: c/o Care Leavers, Ramsay House, Richmond Crescent, Epsom, KT19 8PH
Did you know?
According to statistics from national charity Home for Good:
- Around 10,000 young people leave care in England each year
- 1 in 3 care leavers experience homelessness within two years
- 25% of the adult prison population were in care
- 38% of care leavers aged 19–21 are not in education, employment or training