Youngsters are not forgotten
The festive season for the Marjoribanks family will be extra special this year thanks to seven-month-old Cole.
The grandson of Observer reporter Kaiya will be celebrating his first Christmas.
But his arrival has put into even sharper perspective that not all families and children will be facing the day with the same excitement.
“Cole certainly won’t be going without,”said Kaiya.“He is too young to appreciate how lucky he is but the rest of the family certainly do.
“Not all children experience the sort of Christmas many of us wish for our own families whether that be through poverty, illness, disability, disadvantage or circumstances, which is why the Stirling Observer has been running the Give A Gift Appeal for 10 years now.
“One of my sons has disabilities which have made Christmas a particularly difficult period at times over the past 20 years or so, so I can appreciate that, while it should be a happy time for most people, it can also seem very isolating for some.
“The appeal therefore not only supports charities which help children disadvantaged for financial reasons, it also supports those who help children and families who are often excluded through circumstances outwith their control.”
Among the charities and good causes which help to distribute the gifts donated every year are Stirling Young Carers; Home-Start Stirling which supports families with young children going through difficult times; Stirling Women’s Aid; Stirling Council social services; PLUS, the local organisation which provides social opportunities for children and young people with disabilities; Stirling Interfaith Community Justice Group, which helps families and children at the Family Help Hubs at Cornton Vale and Glenochil; and foodbank charity Start-Up Stirling.
Collected at our offices in Upper Craigs and with the support of a host of drop-off points across the area, the gifts aim to ensure no local child goes without on Christmas morning and that those children and their families going through difficult times know their community has them in their thoughts.
The appeal also exists to ease the pressure many of the charities face over the festive season and allow them to put resources they may otherwise have had to use for gifts into their other areas of good work.
If you would like to organise a collection of gifts for the appeal via your business, workplace, school or group, would like to be one of our official drop off points or would simply like more information, contact the Stirling Observer by phone on 01786 451110 or 459417 or email news@ stirlingobserver.co.uk or kaiya. marjoribanks@trinitymirror.com.
•Drop-off points can be found at: STIRLING: Stirling Observer, 34 Upper Craigs (open Mon-Fri 9am-1pm); Nationwide Building Society, Port Street; CodeBase Stirling, 8-10 Corn Exchange Road; BALFRON: Balfron Library; BANNOCKBURN: Bannockburn Post Office; CALLANDER: Callander Primary School;DUNBLANE: Beech Tree Cafe, 2 Beech Road; Dunblane Centre, Stirling Road.