A NEW Christmas initiative has been hailed a tremendous success.
This year, Wokingham Foodbank, Share Wokingham and First Days Children’s Charity launched a new community shop to support residents through the festivities.
A Christmas Presence, based in an empty retail unit on Elms Field, has been providing Christmas gifts and festive food hampers to residents facing financial hardship.
It has been supported by charities and churches, with the borough council providing the space.
So far, more than 150 families have been supported by the initiative, providing 471 presents children to wake up to beneath their Christmas tree.
Support has been mostly through a referral from a professional working with each family.
Emma Cantrell, CEO of First Days Children’s Charity, said that she knew from the start that it was going to be an ambitious venture.
“The emphasis was to create a welcoming space where parents could select presents for their children,” she explained.
“Providing dignity for parents to choose gifts that they know their children will be thrilled to open has been the driving force of this project.”
She said the team behind the project are grateful to the borough council for providing the space to create their vision.
On Saturdays the unit has been used to create a festive space for families to enjoy craft activities, purchase Christmas gifts for a donation and find out more about the project over a mulled wine.
Claire Revie from Share Wokingham said that crafts, mince pies and carol singing have created a truly festive atmosphere.
“We have welcomed people from across the borough and their feedback has been fantastic,” she said. “We have found that for a significant number of families, it has provided an inexpensive weekend activity for their children in at a time when so many alternatives can be very costly.
“It has also allowed us to talk about the wider context of the scheme and why offering choice has been so important for the project.”
Annette Medhurst, Wokingham Foodbank manager said she feels that the true spirit of Christmas is alive and kicking in Wokingham.
“It has been a real community project with involvement and contributions from so many local organisations and businesses,” she said.
“During December the unit has been used by the Wokingham Lions Club for their Can-Can scheme, where supermarket donations are packed into Christmas gift parcels to be distributed to those in need.
“We have been able to share resources and learn more about our respective charities, which has been a great asset for all of us at a time when our core services are incredibly busy.”
Ms Medhurst said that Christmas is an incredibly expensive time of year for many people.
“It really shouldn’t be this way but when faced with spiralling energy costs and increasing food bills, trying to find money for presents and festive food can be incredibly difficult and stressful,” she added. “We hope that A Christmas Presence has gone some way to alleviate that stress.”
The organisers hope that the project’s success will lead to more collaborative work in the future.
