10 deserving winter appeals to support today

2 Dec 2024

With Christmas fast approaching and so many winter appeals now seeking your support, Julie Thomson, Communications & Marketing Manager at Children in Scotland has pulled together just a small selection of the current campaigns from deserving children’s sector charities. Please use our social media threads to let us know about your campaign and how we can support you.

As the Christmas lights go up, and the Black Friday deals hit our screens and inboxes, it’s easy to forget that not everyone gets to enjoy a winter of magic and sparkle. For many families, the financial pressure of the season is unimaginable, as they balance Christmas expectations and the need for basic necessities. We continue to be in awe of our member and sector network, who are working hard to relieve this pressure on families and give children, in Scotland and beyond, a festive season to remember. Here’s just a few of the great campaigns that have come our way this week.

One Parent Families Scotland: Give a child #ABrighterChristmas

One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) is a fantastic charity that supports single parents and campaigns for solutions to the disadvantages and barriers that they and their children face. Christmas time can be particularly hard for single-income families, and OPFS’s Christmas appeal aims to make sure families keep warm and children don't go hungry or without presents.

Learn more: Give a child a brighter Christmas

Cyrenians: Festive organic fruit and veg bag

Image of a colourful fruit and vegetables selection, with a christmas wreath and baubles above

It’s the time of year when many of us are Christmas meal planning, and if you’re anything like me, it’s all about the trimmings. Why not make your next fruit and veg order go further by picking up a bag from Cyrenians, whose work tackles the causes and consequences of homelessness in Scotland.

Learn more: Cyrenians Festive Fruit and Veg Bag

Fife Gingerbread: Heat and Eat Appeal

We recently put a spotlight on Fife Gingerbread's winter appeal (click here for more). Fife Gingerbread are another of our wonderful members who are supporting families to build safe, warm and healthy homes this winter. Their annual Heat and Eat campaign supports families in crisis, providing critical support for everything from the cost of energy bills to ingredients for healthy meals – and due to the cost of living crisis, the charity says donations have never been more vital.

Learn more: Heat and Eat Appeal

Dundee Bairns: Help us to help Dundee Bairns this Christmas

This winter, Dundee Bairns is highlighting the stark reality that one in three children in Dundee live below the poverty line – and they need your help to provide the basics to families this festive season. The charity is on a mission to raise £15,000 to provide food vouchers and essential home supplies to families in need across Dundee.

While cash is always king when it comes to charity appeals, there are other ways you can support Dundee Bairns’ work – including the donation of household items, like food, cleaning products, toiletries and bedding.

Learn more: Dundee Bairns

Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity: Home for Christmas?

Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity (ECHC) do fantastic work year-round to support seriously ill children visiting hospital in Edinburgh and beyond. Christmas time is no exception, as they strive to create some magic moments, comfort and distraction for those who find themselves unwell in the festive period.

Learn more: ECHC Charity

Scottish Book Trust: Christmas appeal

A drawing of Eric Cardle's Very Hungry caterpillar with the words 'Sophie is very hungry for stories, but doesn't have any books at home'

The parents and carers among us will be familiar with the work of the Scottish Book Trust and the lovely resources they provide throughout the year to support children and young people’s reading. The Trust is passionate about the positive impact of books on lifelong learning and being a key driver of breaking the poverty cycle.

Their Christmas appeal seeks to raise funds for specialised kits to support families to share stories, songs and rhymes with their children, tactile books for children with additional support needs, and gift books for families who need them most through food banks and community hubs.

Learn more: Scottish Book Trust

Save the Children: Middle East appeal

Save the Children’s Middle East appeal focuses on supporting children in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as other areas affected by the current conflict there, including the West Bank and Syria. Donations to their appeal will be used to purchase school kits, family hygiene packs, food and emergency first aid provisions.

Learn more: Middle East appeal

ALLMEP

ALLMEP is a coalition of over 160 organizations—and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis—building cooperation, justice, equality, self-determination, shared society, mutual understanding, and peace among their communities. They seek support for their advocacy work and peace-building programmes via their website.

Learn more: ALLMEP

Sense Scotland: Christmas shop

'Christmas Winterland' cover of Christmas card depicts a winter town scene with a church, park and people skating on a frozen pond.

There are many ways to support this incredible charity this winter, but we have particularly been enjoying the lovely selection of gifts available to purchase on their website. From candles to Christmas cards, purchases will support Sense Scotland’s work with children and young people with communication support needs associated with complex and sensory disabilities.

Learn more: Sense Scotland Christmas Shop

Children in Scotland

And finally, if you can this Christmas, please consider a gift to Children in Scotland. Our wide-ranging work supports, informs and amplifies voices in the children’s sector, allowing children across the country to flourish and meet their potential. We need your support to continue to tackle important topics like child poverty, mental health, additional support for learning, and other children’s rights issues. We would be incredibly grateful for any donations this winter on our Give As You Live page.

Donate now