Our own Mrs Claus has started to hit the shops
Because she’s not just buying for her nearest and dearest – she’s buying for hundreds of disadvantaged kids.
The regional charity manager for Cash For Kids is a modern-day Mrs Claus.
And right now she’s choosing gifts for children of all ages – to give them a Christmas they will never forget.
The Sunday Post has teamed up to support the Mission Christmas Appeal.
But we still need you to keep the donations and cash coming in for this fantastic cause.
We joined the team last week on the first of the big gift- buying sprees. Forget a bag or two of goodies – think trolleys and, indeed, cages full of gifts.
We’re at the Gyle Shopping Centre in Edinburgh and Boots is the first stop.
“I start seriously thinking about what the ‘ in’ trends are about September,” says Ann Marie, as she scans the shelves.
“I need to really be sure what the boys and girls and young adults want.”
Anne Marie, centre, and volunteers shop for hundreds of children. FOR 15-year-old Emma and 14-year-old sister Eilidh – we’ve changed the names to preserve their anonymity – only Cash For Kids brought Christmas joy last year.
With their dad ill, the girls largely became his carers as he was in and out of hospital and their mum struggled on as the sole breadwinner.
Things looked bleak – until a visitor arrived at the door of their Inverness home.
“It was our support worker with a bag of presents,” says Emma. “It really was like Santa coming.”
Their mum, who was panicking over a bleak Christmas, wrapped the gifts and put them under the tree. And suddenly Christmas morning was an awful lot brighter.
“When we came down and saw them we were beaming,” said Eilidh. “Mum had been struggling to get us stuff and we’d even been saving up our own money to buy things for ourselves. Just having clothes and toys and jewellery and make-up was brilliant.
“It was a weight off mum’s shoulders. We might be teenagers, but we’re still kids and Christmas morning is so special.”
For the sisters’ support worker, the girls are only two of the many she knows who would face festive misery if it wasn’t for Cash For Kids.
She says: “Poverty is an all-year-round thing, but it’s so much worse at Christmas as the expectations are so high.
“Can you imagine what it’s like for that child sitting in a classroom with all their friends talking about presents when they know they can’t get any?”