More than 100 gifts will brighten up Christmas for children living in poverty after dozens of kind donations from HSDC students and staff.
Throughout November and December, the Students’ Unions at each of our campuses have been raising funds and gathering donations to help those less fortunate.
Collection boxes have been located throughout the College, for people to donate gifts which will be distributed to children and teenagers across the south coast by Wave 105’s Cash For Kids as part of Mission Christmas.
Winter Fairs took place at HSDC campuses last week, with stalls selling a variety of gifts and goodies, some of which came from students’ small businesses.
More than £300 was raised through the activities and donations, including a tombola which included items kindly donated from businesses including Tesco, Waitrose, Saltrock, Farmfoods, Ryman and Morrisons.
Hayley Edmead, President of the HSDC Havant Students’ Union, said:
“I think it went amazingly, and we had a wonderful turnout of student stalls. We managed to raise £115 for Mission Christmas at HSDC Havant, which will be extremely beneficial in providing presents to local children.
“It’s been a really hard year for everybody, so the opportunity provided by Mission Christmas to help ensure that every child in the area gets a present is wonderful.”
Five Student Union members visited the Mission Christmas HQ to deliver more than 100 donated gifts from the Havant and South Downs campuses. The students also helped sort donated gifts by age and then picked and packed approximately 120 gifts ready for collection this week.
Mission Christmas is aiming to help 18,000 children living in poverty this year, so all of these gifts will be greatly appreciated.
The students said they had a great time and would definitely recommend volunteering at the depot, and the group have committed to making sure fundraising is repeated next year.
Gift donations can still be dropped off at the Mission Christmas collection points across the area. To find your nearest location or make a donation, visit cashforkids.org.uk/mission.