Hannah Noble from Birmingham City Mission talks about their Christmas venture.
Every Christmas Birmingham City Mission gives gifts to around 3,000 children in our city, children whose families struggle financially and would otherwise be unable to give presents to their children. This Christmas we’re doing it again.
The logistics of the project is daunting, and work is now in full swing as staff and volunteers prepare for the
complicated process of bringing Christmas gifts to the doors of those in need. This is how it happens:
➙ Social services, churches and other agencies refer families in need to BCM.
➙ BCM collates the details of each family, creating a label for each one showing the children’s names and ages.
➙ Meanwhile, churches, schools, businesses and individuals are collecting and donating new toys which are
then passed on to BCM. These toys are carefully checked, sorted and batteries attached if needed.
➙ Throughout December hordes of volunteer pickers and packers take family labels and choose four gifts for
each child. These are put into white sacks and the labels stuck on.
➙ The sacks are sorted into districts and routes are planned for the drivers.
➙ Drivers load up the route on their sat nav and the presents are delivered to the door.
Please help by buying a new (not secondhand) gift for a child or organise a gift collection with your friends, colleagues or groups you attend. Bring them to Birmingham City Mission, The Clock Tower, 2 Langdon St, Birmingham B9 4BP (open Mon-Fri 9-4pm). Contact us on 0121 766 6603 or office@birminghamcitymission.co.uk if you need us to pick up large collections.
Or do it all online. Choose a gift from an online store and have it delivered straight to the address above, or
make a donation at give.net/toylink. And there are lots of ideas for gifts to buy on our ToyLink Amazon Wishlist. Just visit Christmas Toylink for all the information you need to donate.
The children are aged between 0 and 16 years old. New toys, books, games and puzzles are needed (must be complete and unmarked). Please do not wrap your present so we can match the gift to the child.