Christmas time is a time of giving, it's the spirit of the season. We've just wrapped up (pun intended) our Christmas Wish Appeal for 2022 and we want to show you where all your donated gifts have gone, and how we've spent some of the generous funding we've received from National Grid Funding.
We Share is one of our four main charity pillars at RCV UK. We actively want to give everyone in the community a hand-up, not just a handout. Through We Share our volunteers coordinate resources generously donated by members of the community to help fight food poverty and the impact of the current cost of living crisis. Utilising our Food Pantry, Bike Hub, Uniform Recycling Scheme, and our Knowledge Hwb we are here for members of the community. Learn more about We Share here.
If it's Christmas feel good you're after, we've got you covered: -
The RCV Christmas Wish Appeal
Now in our third year, we run our toy appeal slightly differently this year. This year we tailored our wish appeal to offer the chance to buy for specific families or children in need of a gift from Santa. Our Facebook post gave details of what families and children our followers could then select the child they would like to support and grant their Christmas wishes.
All the families were put forward by Parent Partners and the Parent Network as well as families that RCV UK is currently supporting.
All wishes were granted in under 24 hours! We have been massively overwhelmed (as always) by the fantastic generous support offered by our followers. Thirty-one local families have had their wishes granted. We've also been able to support many more through working with HCT.
We also were offered a trolley at Risca Tesco for additional donations and you can see the wonderful toys on their way to local children here:
Warm Winter Packs
Every Friday, we run a Coffee Morning for our VIPs in Channel View Community Centre. On our last one of the year, thanks to funding from the National Grid Community Matters Fund we were able to give our 30 Winter Warming packs to those in need of an extra boost this winter. Additional thanks to Hasbro who also sponsored food hampers to go with the warmer packs, ensuring no one had to make the impossible choice between eating or heating.
We all have been hit by the rising cost of energy bills this winter. Fortunately, we were able to secure much-needed funding to be able to provide electric blankets, thick duvets, thermal throws, and electric heaters. Here are some of our youngest volunteers kindly helping secure the items:
This winter, National Grid Electricity Distribution has teamed up with Localgiving to deliver a record £2.5million of funding to charitable organisations tackling fuel poverty in their communities. With the increase in fuel costs and the cost of living, many families will find paying their bills a struggle at this time of year.
We have since given out another 30 heaters to Ty Coedwig, supported living residents thanks to this funding. The remaining funding will be spent bringing our Friendly Fridays to you all throughout January to March. Open at We Connect from 5:30pm every Friday, we assure you that our warm welcome and delicious home-cooked meal will take the chill off you this winter.
RCV have proudly supported many local charities with their winter appeals. Sharing our donations from our wonderful partners at Hasbro with other charities like The Parent Network and Help Caring Team (HCT) in Newport. HCT have been able to help a further 110 families with Christmas gifts this year, making up to 400 sacks of toys with personilised toys for children.
We are so incredibly proud of the work our volunteers have pulled off this year again to ensure so many families have been supported throughout South Wales. Thank you to each one of our many volunteers who sacrifice time each week to give back to their community. Here Sgiliau students joined our volunteers to help with the wrapping and sorting of our donations.
A Quick Reminder
If you require an emergency food parcel this festive season we've made a small adjustment to the way they are managed. We can now no longer accept requests via email, message, text, or via social media. To request a parcel please call us on 01633 848899.
Finally, we still have Christmas Day Dinner slots available for anyone alone during the festive season. The dinner, kindly funded by Tiny Rebel Brewery will be at We Connect on Christmas Day between 1pm and 3pm. To book your slot contact Tara via our Facebook page here.
Thank you so much to everyone for supporting our wish campaign this year. All that is left of us is to wish you the merriest of Christmas - and we will see you in the new year with exciting new projects and support schemes for this community.
Please support RCV by spreading our #SharingisCaring message this Holiday Season