T’was the week before Christmas (shutdown), when all through the Hunter, Christmas elves from The Marketing GP worked to purchase, wrap and deliver gifts to Family Support Newcastle.
‘Tis the season of giving, and in particular, giving back – which is what our team wanted to do, in lieu of direct gifts for our clients this year.
We came together to determine how we can help those less fortunate this year, while still thanking our clients for their support of our team through 2023.
This is how our Christmas Toy Drive was born!
We developed a plan to purchase a gift on behalf of each of our clients and donate the gift to a local charity. We’re lucky in Newcastle to have so many fantastic not-for-profits working with children, but there was one which stood out to our team – Family Support Newcastle.
Family Support Newcastle
Family Support Newcastle provides services to promote wellbeing of children and their families, individuals and communities during or following challenging times in their lives.
Some of their services include:
Supporting women leaving domestic violence situations
Supporting parents who have Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) involved with their family
Assisting Indigenous families with children
Supporting fathers and other men in a fathering role
These services are critical in support those who have experienced domestic violence, loss of family members, or financial struggles.
Nearly all who are assisted by Family Support Newcastle are women and men with children, who may be struggling to purchase gifts during the holiday season. According to the Salvation Army, in 2021 nearly 84 per cent of households with children were worried they couldn’t afford presents for their children. With the rising cost of living, this number is only going to increase on 2023.
Additionally, according to the NSW Council of Social Service, women in Newcastle are some of the most economically disadvantaged in NSW, and are more likely to struggle at this time of year.
We knew Family Support Newcastle would have dozens of families in need of gifts for Christmas, and we were more than happy to offer our support.
Creating Christmas magic
While we wanted each gift to have a bit of meaning behind it, we also wanted to ensure we purchased a range of gifts that could be shared with children of varying ages.
As a team, we went through our list of clients and suggested gifts which aligned with their business but varied in age range. This resulted in gifts such as Lego sets for our engineering clients, board games like Monopoly for those in the finance industry and even a Barbie doll with a camera for one of our media-based clients!
We snapped a picture of our team with each gift and shared it with our clients to show them what we’d donated on their behalf, hoping to spark joy from each of them!
Santa’s helpers
Once all the gifts were wrapped, we packed up our Santa sacks (and our Managing Director, Holly’s car!) and delivered the gifts to Family support Newcastle’s headquarters in Waratah.
We were greeted by some of their wonderful staff and were reminded exactly why we chose to do a charity toy drive. The delight and gratitude from their team has made our year, and we cannot wait for their families to receive the gifts.
“Family Support Newcastle provides services to vulnerable families and children in the Hunter, often families impacted by domestic violence, struggling with mental health issues, disability and social isolation,” Team Leader and Social Worker, Erin Beard said.
“Add to this the ongoing impacts of COVID and the cost-of-living crisis, and we are seeing an increasing number of families struggling with the financial burden of providing for basic needs. While Christmas can be a time of joy and celebration, the challenges our families face can lead to Christmas being a time of increased stress.
“The generous donation of children’s Christmas presents will help alleviate some of this stress, ensure children have something to open on Christmas morning and bring a smile not only to these children, but to their parent’s also! We are thankful for the support.”
How you can help and give back
While the holiday season is often about spoiling the ones we love, there are many people like those assisted by Family Support Newcastle who may not have the opportunity.
If you’re in a position to, we encourage you to reach out to Family Support Newcastle, or a charity of your choice to see how you can help and give back in the Christmas and New Year season.
We promise, there’s not greater feeling than supporting those in need – it will warm you up like a delicious glass of eggnog (or the scorching sun on Christmas day!).
If you’d like to donate or help Family Support Newcastle
you can visit their website and donate here.
