Over 100 Christmas mornings taken care of by Caring Coins

COMMENDATIONS are in order for Caring Coins who after a challenging period of appeals and fundraising have successfully secured Christmas presents for over 100 children and young people living throughout the area who may have otherwise gone without.

The many merry Christmas mornings that these young ones will wake up to was made possible thanks in no small part to the charitable organisations Christmas sponsor appeal, which sees Caring Coins work in partnership with several other local agencies to procure presents for families that are most in need during what for many is the most financially challenging time of year.

Expressing her optimism that the organisation she worked to co-found would once again succeed in garnering gifts for every person they have committed themselves to helping this Christmas was Kerrie Havern, chairperson of Caring Coins who explained how any and all within the area who want to lend a helping hand to the charity this Christmas can do so and perhaps in the process put a smile on the face of an otherwise destitute child this December 25. Kerrie began by explaining how Caring Coins Christmas sponsorship appeal operates.

Bespoke Service

“The first year we ran the Christmas appeal in 2021 we helped 167 children. In 2022 we helped a further 218 children and finally 141 this year.

“Our service is very bespoke as the families that we help are actively engaging in programmes throughout the year and this is how they get on to our list.

“We have established partnerships with existing charities within the Newry, Mourne and Kilkeel areas such as Women's Aid, Surestart, Homestart and Bolster. These services are in the homes working with the families thus they are privy to such information as the families income and what the exact circumstances of these families are. Therefore these partner organisations can identify families who are in genuine poverty and severe financial distress.

“A representative from one of these partner organisations would then come to us and tell us that they have a family that meet the criteria to be on our Christmas sponsor list and that this family is actively involved in programmes with our partner organisation who are actively involved in trying to get them back on their feet.

“These organisations would then ask the family questions relating to what age their children are and what items their child likes be it a young child or a teenager. We get a very basic form of facts from the partnership. They will ask us if we can help this year.

“So our help goes to families who are not only on their absolute knees but have been working hard to get themselves back on track. We step in and we take care of Christmas for them so they can bounce into the next year on a good footing.”

Kerrie explained that it is a very wide age demographic that is catered for by the Caring Coins Christmas appeal from newborn infants right the way up to teenagers as old as 15 and 16.

Wide Age Range

“From the information we receive we then compile our list and advertise it as well as allocating a certain amount per child based on age. For example we would spend £100 on a baby and this will enable the mother to purchase all the necessities that she will need for that baby as it grows.

“For the likes of a 15 year old the chances are that the 15 year old on our list is doing extra and isn't even getting the opportunity to be a teenager most of the time because they are helping with the younger children in the house so we definitely like to make an effort for them. They would receive our maximum amount which is £200 and this means we can get them a shopping voucher for the likes of a shopping centre and this means they can get whatever they want.”

Although the majority of children which Caring Coins have dedicated themselves to helping this year will be pleasantly surprised come Christmas morning, there is still a small outstanding number on the organisations list that Santa and his team of helpers at Caring Coins have yet to attend to.

However this is no fact to be lamented as Kerrie was keen to elaborate on the steps that the people in the area can take to make all the difference for someone this Christmas.

Sponsorship Avenues

“We have lots of avenues at the moment for sponsors. You can contact us to sponsor a child's entire Christmas or partial Christmas. We will then let you know what each age group gets allocated and you can match this to your budget. At this point you can make two choices, you can send us the money and we can do the shop on your behalf or you can do the shop for the child yourself.

“There are also items advertised on the tree in Smyths in Newry for people who also want to help to ensure that there is something within their budget. You buy the gift and the leave it in the store. The items are stored and the they are left in the store for collection.

“Also it is not just children we look after at Christmas. When we finish our shopping at the end of the month for the next ten days after , we will be running an appeal for people to donate money for Dunnes vouchers. The Dunnes vouchers can be used for food, electricity, gas or clothes. These will be bought and distributed between the families on our list and also the age well network for pensioners in our local area and for the families that Community Advice are aware are struggling.

“With the way we work all the help that we receive has a positive knock on effect. For example if someone buys toys for a child and I have allocated £150 to that child and they have bought me toys worth £60, this means there is a £60 reduction in the amount of money I spend on this child and this £60 will go to helping someone else.

“So the more children sponsored, the more money we are going to be able to direct to the elderly and to the people under the care of the Age-well network and to the families meaning that these families will be able to get a voucher for their food, electric or gas and their toys so they will have a warm Christmas with a full belly.

“Caring Coins would also like to give a massive thanks to Re-Gen, to the Confederation of Community Groups, to Cathy McMahon, who has worked with us every step of the way on our journey in developing the charity.

“We would also like to thank Stephen McClelland from the Social Enterprises who has always been at hand if we need advice as well as the Noah Donohue foundation who sent us money last year.”