One of the region’s oldest charities, Wood Street Mission, has begun its annual Christmas appeal and needs help with donations to aid families in Salford.
Wood Street Mission has been a helping hand to many since 1869, providing practical help to families living in poverty through talks and publications, as well as improving children’s lives and life chances.
Throughout the year, the charity hosts an array of projects, from ‘Family Basics’ in which families are provided with day-to-day essentials that their children need, for example towels and toiletries, to ‘SmartStart’ where families can order new non-branded school uniform items for their children starting back in school in September.
Earlier this month, Wood Street Mission launched their 2018 Christmas Appeal calling for donations of new toys and gifts for children aged 0-14. They aim to help families who struggle to make ends meet by still giving them the joy of gift giving and giving them the a Christmas to remember.
The timeline below shows the history of Wood Street Mission and their progression in helping out as many children as they can.
Des Lynch, operation manager of Wood Street Mission, stated: “The Christmas project is making the best out of Christmas so it’s a special time for some of the children that don’t have as much as others.”
“We couldn’t operate without community support, it’s a local charity and it’s always been supported by local people, whether that be individuals, churches, schools or companies. We just couldn’t survive without that kind of support.”
The communities within Salford and Manchester have rallied around the charity, filling up its donations centres ready for collection. The donations area becomes filled and set out like a toy shop, so it is just like walking into Santa’s bright and colourful workshop.
Organisations such as Manchester Claims Associations have also shown support for the charity, by choosing them as their favourite local charity, as well as UKFast who have erected the Christmas appeal poster on a 35ft billboard directly outside of their headquarters on Princess Parkway in Hulme.
“UKFast have supported us the whole year around, and its culminated now because they’ve offered their billboard on the corner of their building to advertise our Christmas appeal, which is fantastic because we can now reach people we could never imagine to reach.”
My family are really chuffed to see this as my Grandad got Christmas gifts from The Wood Street Mission as a child in the 1920s. They have always been highly thought of in our family &we’ll be donating gifts to the appeal as a thank you for bringing him joy all those years ago ❤️
— Leah Taylor (@MissIndy) November 13, 2018
Des also stated how it is heartbreaking that even after 150 years over 48,000 children are currently facing poverty and not everyone can be reached, but with the support from individuals and organisations, the target is getting closer and closer for everyone to have a happy Christmas.
So how can you help?
From 12th of November to 14th December, you can help in many ways by donating toys, volunteering to help sort through the goodies, or raising funds to help keep the charity going!
Thinking of donating? Head down to 26 Wood Street, off Deansgate in central Manchester, between Monday to Friday 8.30am – 4:30pm and hand in any new toys or gifts to spread a smile. The charity have raised focus on toys for children ages 8 and upwards as there usually isn’t as many toys donated for them so would be very beneficial and make their Christmas!
For more information, visit www.woodstreetmission.org.uk or call 0161 834 3140
Recent Comments