Our 2022 Christmas Appeal is now underway, as we prepare to distribute thousands of toys and gifts to local children living in poverty so that they can have a happy Christmas.

There are lots of ways to get involved and support our Christmas Appeal. While we would hugely appreciate your donations of new toys, books and gifts, unwrapped for children aged 0-14 years, you can also help us by making a financial donation or by fundraising.

Here are some festive fundraising ideas that you could take on with your friends, family, work colleagues or as a group:

• Secret Santa for Wood Street Mission
  An alternative to Secret Santa, ask your friends to draw children’s ages (0-14 years) out of a hat, and donate a toy for Wood Street Mission.
  
  
• FIFA World Cup 2022 Sweepstake
  One for the football fans, participants could donate to enter the sweepstake and be allocated a country – you could award half of the funds raised to the winner, and half to Wood Street! The World Cup runs between 20^th November and 18^th December 2022, view the groups here.
  
  
• The 12 K’s of Christmas
  You’ve heard of the 12 days of Christmas, now you can try the 12 K’s! Challenge your team or go solo to complete 12 days of a sponsored fitness challenge, where you clock up the kilometres with a run, walk, cycle or swim.
  
  
• Christmas Crafts
  Get creative by hosting a Christmas wreath-making workshop or making festive crafts or bakes to sell to raise funds. Or why not organise a gift wrapping service for your friends or colleagues, who could make a donation to Wood Street in return?
  
  
• Christmas Jumpers or Dress Up
  Donate to wear your favourite festive jumper at work or at school, or better still – Christmas themed fancy dress!
  
  
• Christmas messages
  Spread the Christmas cheer by creating a communal (or virtual) Christmas message board and encourage your friends or colleagues to leave their messages and donate to Wood Street Mission. This could be an alternative to sending Christmas cards around, so the suggested donation could match what you would normally spend on a box of cards.
  
  
• Raise funds as you shop online

The run up to Christmas is a busy time for online shopping, and you can raise money for our charity with no extra cost to you.

Find Wood Street Mission on Amazon Smile, easyfundraising, Give As You Live or PayPal Giving Fund and support local children as you shop!

At work, school, or home, with friends, family or colleagues, there’s lots you can do and we are always here to help with:

• fundraising tips
• setting up an online sponsorship page
• sponsorship forms
• t-shirts and running vests
• collection buckets and tins
• banners and posters

Any funds raised for our Christmas Appeal will give us the flexibility to ensure that we have a good stock and a great variety of toys for each age group throughout the project. No matter how much money you raise, you’ll have made a real, positive difference to local children and their families, who are dealing with the impact of poverty. 

Whatever you’d like to get involved with, please do get in touch and tell us about your fundraising plans, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact fundraise@woodstreetmission.org.uk to find out more.