12 Charities that Need Your Support this Christmas
Give a gift that matters this Christmas
Tynedale Hospice at Home
Based: Across Tynedale, Ponteland and West Northumberland.
What they do: They provide free end-of-life care, patient transport, bereavement support and complimentary therapy.
How to help this Christmas: Tynedale Hospice at Home’s Light up a Life remembrance service (2nd December) takes place in Hexham each Christmas – a chance for people within the community to come together and remember loved ones. Stars are available to supporters who would like them for their own homes and they also have a virtual Night Sky on their website for donors to leave a dedication in memory of a loved one this season. Your dedication and donation will help support the charity’s vital work.
Daft as a Brush Cancer Patient Care
Based in: Gosforth.
What they do: They specialise in transporting cancer patients to and from hospital for their chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy treatment, free of charge.
How to help this Christmas: Following their successful Last Night of the Proms Concert and having welcomed 'Burnside Buddy', their newest ambulance adopted by Burnside Primary School in Cramlington, Daft as a Brush are looking ahead to Christmas with Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital always busy as the cold weather hits. Brian and his team go the extra mile to help with patient transport at this time of year but they rely on your donations to do that. You can also find more information about volunteering online.
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Feeding Families
Based in: Blaydon.
What they do: They offer support, hope and security to those experiencing food poverty.
How to help this Christmas: Feeding Families’ recent gala dinner raised just more than £18,000 to help them support more than 700 families in the following weeks and they are now starting the build up to Christmas where they expect to produce 10,000 Christmas food boxes in their Blaydon centre. Their campaign this year is ‘A Matched Christmas Dinner’ where one family buys the food for you to cook a Christmas Day dinner and delivers it directly to your home. They’re offering six menus to choose from to suit all dietary requirements. Donate a virtual Christmas hamper online.
Teesside at Christmas
Based in: Redcar.
What they do: They offer essential supplies like food, toys, and clothing to local charities.
How to help this Christmas: In 2021 Teesside at Christmas became a registered charity and they have now launched their appeal for 2023. This year they’re accepting donations of shoeboxes or Christmas gift bags of presents, individually wrapped gifts and food hampers. The main drop-off day is Saturday 2nd December at St Hildas Church, Redcar, but if you can’t make it, they can collect your donations too. There’s also a link to donate funds online.
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The People’s Kitchen
Based in: Newcastle.
What they do: They support homeless and vulnerable people and help fight hunger and loneliness for locals who may be at risk of homelessness, unemployed, lonely or living in poverty.
How to help this Christmas: As the cold weather arrives, it becomes more and more important to provide care for those who need it. By donating £5 to The People’s Kitchen you can help feed someone this Christmas. To donate, text KITCHEN 5 to 70490 or head online where you can also find information about volunteering.
Project Santa
Based in: Newcastle.
What they do: They collect and send out Christmas gifts and food to children across Newcastle, who might otherwise go without.
How to help this Christmas: Last year 611 gift packages were delivered to 611 children in our local area who would have otherwise received nothing on Christmas morning. This year Project Santa is back and they’re asking for donations or presents for children. To find out how to donate contact projectsantanewcastle@gmail.com.
£5, greatnorthairambulance.co.uk
In this pack you’ll find 10 Christmas cards featuring festive scenes from the North East. By purchasing you’ll help to fund the Great North Air Ambulance’s essential service to save lives this Christmas.
£12.50, emilywardart.com
Each of Emily’s Christmas cards are made up of eight local landmarks. The money raised from these cards will support Fostering Under Newcastle.
£3.75, tynedalehospice.com
This pack of 10 Sycamore Gap charity Christmas cards support the vital work of Tynedale Hospice at Home.
£5 yorkshireairambulance.org.uk
The new Christmas on the Canals Christmas card, features an illustration of one of Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s instantly recognisable helicopters and proceeds support their vital work across the county.
£4.50 candlelighters.org.uk
Perfect for dog-lovers, sales of this pack of 10 cards help support children with cancer and their families.
£4 yorkshirecancerresearch.org.uk
This pack of 10 cards helps fund research that saves lives in Yorkshire.
Yorkshire Air Ambulance
Based in: Elland.
What they do: They operate two state-of-the-art helicopters which fly to those who are critically injured and require urgent medical attention across Yorkshire.
How to help this Christmas: Yorkshire Air Ambulance Christmas lunch at Wentbridge House Hotel is sold out but there are four new YAA Christmas card designs for 2023 as well as plenty more illustrated by Anita Bowerman, with proceeds supporting their work.
Yorkshire Children’s Trust
Based in: Halifax.
What they do: They help children and their families cope with the emotional and financial strain of life-changing illnesses.
How to help this Christmas: Yorkshire Children’s Trust are hosting Santa’s grotto experiences in both Bradford and Calderdale this December as a private event for patients before their Big Christmas Drop begins on 19th December at local hospitals across Yorkshire. Last year they received an overwhelming response to their Christmas appeal, and gifted more than 2,000 gifts to children in hospital over Christmas. This year you can help by donating one or more gifts to under £15 in value to be allocated to children on the wards of local hospitals.
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Simon on the Streets
Based in: Leeds, Bradford and Kirklees.
What they do: They deliver outreach on the streets to the homeless community and those who are most vulnerable in Leeds, Bradford and Kirklees.
How to help this Christmas: In January this year, research from Shelter showed that there were at least 271,000 people recorded as homeless in England. Simon on the Streets’ Christmas appeal is encouraging you to think about how you could make a difference, whether that’s by making a donation, supporting fundraising, or organising a fundraising event of your own.
Candlelighters
Based in: Leeds.
What they do: Candlelighters were our first ever Changing Lives charity in Yorkshire (we spoke to them in 2010). Each year, around 150 children in Yorkshire are diagnosed with cancer and Candlelighters have been helping children with cancer and their families since 1976.
How to help this Christmas: This Christmas Candlelighters are encouraging schools to wear their jazziest jumpers and donate £1 to raise funds for families on 15th December. You can also make Christmas special this year with Candlelighters’ Christmas cards, some of which are designed by local children.
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Martin House Children’s Hospice
Based in: Wetherby.
What they do: They provide family-led hospice care free of charge for children and young people with life-limiting illnesses.
How to help this Christmas: Martin House’s Christmas appeal this year asks you to donate to help raise £115,000 this Christmas, so they can help many more families like Jack’s. Darren and Cheryl’s son Jack died suddenly in his sleep on Boxing Day morning at 16 months old.
Spirit of Christmas
Based in: Selby.
What they do: They promote education, family and community interaction through projects throughout the year.
How to help this Christmas: With their Banana Box Toy Project, they provide toys to disadvantaged families to promote learning and the development of social skills in children. The Toys for Ukraine project is an extension of the Banana Box project and is aimed at supporting Ukrainian children who arrive in the Selby area under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Their Christmas parties bring joy and community spirit and their Christmas Toy Bank provides free toys so that no child wakes up on Christmas Day without a present.
