With kids Christmas Appeal 2013

The countdown to Christmas begins!

This is the time where most of us will be thinking about what gifts you are getting your friends and family, what to wear to your Christmas parties, and of course, preparing for that all important Christmas Dinner.

However, Christmas can be a very difficult time of the year for many of us, so if you can help in any way, please make a donation to With Kids.

For many children, Christmas is simply another day without the fun and warmth that the rest of us take for granted. Poverty, family breakdown or illness are just some of the reasons that a child will wake to find that Santa hasn't come this year.

With Kids aims to provide a Christmas for families who would otherwise struggle. We provide presents and food hampers for families in need. We also have a special day with dinner, entertainment and a visit from Santa.

To enable this to happen we are in desperate need of donations and are looking for:

• Children's toys
• Stocking fillers
• Non-perishable food items for hampers

If you are able to donate just one thing, this would go a long way to making it a very merry Christmas.

Donate Glasgow

To donate children's toys. stocking fillers and non-perishable food items for hamper's for With Kids Glasgow please drop them into our office at 15 Annfield Place Dennistoun, Glasgow

Donate Edinburgh

If you would like to donate non perishable food for With Kids Edinburgh just pop into the Chesser, ASDA and fill up the With Kids trolley! The address is 3 New Market Road, EH14 1RS. Or you drop any donations into our Edinburgh office at 1 Hailesland Road, Edinburgh.

Donate Online with Amazon Wishlist

We have also created a Christmas wishlist on Amazon where you can buy toys which we'll then donate to those in need. It's a great idea and means you can donate to us with the click of a button! To check this out please click HERE.

At With Kids, we believe that every child and family should have a very merry Christmas so please help us to help them. We could not do this without your help and support - thank you!

For information about what's going on at With Kids, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Food Drive

Christmas is just around the corner and at With Kids, this means we need to do a lot of gathering for our Food Drive.

And the Edinburgh WithKids office needs your help!

Please spread the word about our Food Drive in December, all of the food donated will be given to families who have asked for help over the Christmas holidays.

If you would like to donate food just pop into the Chesser ASDA and fill up the WithKids trolley!

You can donate Tinned Veggies, Pasta, Pasta sauce, Cheesy pasta, Squash, Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Biscuits, Breakfast cereal, Wipes and Tinned meat.

Please stop by and help support our Food Drive!

Please help us spread the word with your community - thank you!

You can get in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Join JCI Glasgow at their Christmas Quiz!

Our friends at JCI Glasgow are hosting a 'Christmas quiz' with Quizmaster Scott Johnston to help raise funds for With Kids.

The event takes place on Sunday 1st December at O'Neills, Merchant City from 7pm.

This is a team event (flexible team sizes - £10 per team member).

If you don't have a team but would still like to attend, the good folks at JCI will help you join one, or even form one on the night!

At With Kids, we aim to help the most vulnerable children and families in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

All of the money raised from this event will go towards helping us put on a Christmas Party for our families at With Kids. We provide presents and food hampers for families in need. We also have a special day with dinner, entertainment and a special visit from Santa.

If you would like to join in on the fun, whilst raising vital fund for With Kids, you can do so by following the details below:

Cost for the evening is £10 per person - please sign up to the event HERE.

And pay us either via PayPal or BACS (email maggie_g@jciglasgow.com for more information)

If you can’t make the evening then please help us hit our target by donating on our Just Giving Page HERE.

Please help us reach our target and put a smile on the children's faces - thank you!

To find out what else is happening at With Kids, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Letter Writing at the Disney Store to help With Kids

We're thankful to everyone who donates to us, especially on the run up to Christmas, which means we can help as many families as possible.

And we're thrilled that the Disney Store is supporting us this festive period!

The Disney Store has launched its annual 'Share in the Magic' charity campaign in Scotland. And we're bracing ourselves for an influx of teddy bears...

For every letter to Santa that is posted in-store or online, the Glasgow store will donate a soft toy to children through With Kids.

To get involved - head over to the store for letter writing workshops where staff members are on hand to help children write a letter to pop in the Christmas postbox.

If you would like to donate to With Kids, please click HERE.

Make sure you are following us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with what's going on at With Kids.

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Mandatory Reporting Law - With Kids Response

There has been much debate over the past couple of days in regards to Mandatory Reporting Law.

Keir Starmer, former Director of Public Prosecutions, has reignited calls for mandatory reporting which would mean all professionals would have to report suspicions of child abuse or face legal consequences.

Mandatory reporting is already law in Canada, Australia, Denmark and in several US states including Florida, where a failure to report such cases can result in a £600, 000 fine.

Since the violent death of four-year old Daniel Pelka, campaigners have also called for a law to ensure teachers and carers who spot bruising and extreme hunger in children must, by law, report these signs of abuse.

Mr Starmer was on the BBC's Panorama programme and stated that Britain should have a 'very straightforward, simple scheme' that would 'change the law and close a gap that's been there for a very long time'.

We hear from a member of the With Kids team in response to calls for the mandatory reporting law:

'The issue isn't mandatory reporting, it is really about what action is taken after reporting. Many, many reports of neglect etc are not acted upon because Social Work have insufficient resources.'
Let us know your thoughts on Mandatory Reporting Law?

If you'd like to find out more about how With Kids can help you, please do not hesitate in contacting us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Halloween Party at With Kids Glasgow!

The clocks went back at the weekend which can only mean one thing... Halloween is just around the corner...

Last years Halloween party was such a success, we've decided to have another spooky Halloween party on October 31st from 4.30pm until 6.30pm at With Kids Glasgow!

There will be plenty of tricks and treats in store for you all!

If you would like to join us for some spooky Halloween fun, please get in touch with Suzy on 0141 550 5770 or you can email her at s.blair@withkids.org.uk

So come along if you dare and remember to wear your scariest fancy dress outfit!

You can also contact us by joining us on Facebook or Twitter.

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With Kids Edinburgh Open Day

On Friday 18th October, we had the With Kids Open Day at our Edinburgh office to meet the families in and around Edinburgh.

Thankfully the rain stayed off for most of the day, meaning we could get outside and have fun with lots of different activities!

Here's another HUGE thank you to everyone that helped to make the With Kids Open Day at our brand new Edinburgh Office a huge success.

We had such a great afternoon and look forward to seeing you all again really soon!

Here are some photos from our Open Day in Edinburgh...

To find out more about With Kids Edinburgh, please do not hesitate to contact us either on Facebook, Twitter or you can call us on - 0131 453 6937.

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Once Upon a Time Auction!

Most you of are probably aware that With Kids' ambassador, Robert Carlyle stars in the hit American fantasy-drama, Once Upon A Time. 

The TV show has a great following and online fan base who became aware of With Kids through Robert Carlyle.

The show's fans have been great supporters of our work and in the past have ran online charity auctions. They have already kindly donated over £3,000 and they're kindness doesn't stop there. 

Our friends at Once Upon A Time Australia are running a charity auction as a way for the fan group to pass on the community spirit and love that has been portrayed by the cast of Once Upon a Time and our charity's ambassador, Robert Carlyle.

They will be running the online auction on Sunday 30th November. They have began to collect pieces for the auction, which include items from the TV series and Once Upon A Time themed items. Watch out for some very special items which they will be announcing soon!

If anyone would like to donate any items, please do not hesitate to PM the fan group by clicking HERE.

Please click HERE when the auction goes live to bid for the items!

Take a look at the auction items below...

For more information about the auction, please follow With Kids on Facebook and Twitter.

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Lisa's Great Scottish Run!

In just under three weeks, our fantastic fundraiser, Lisa will be barrelling the streets of Glasgow with thousands of others in the Great Scottish Run!

In this blog post, Lisa tells her story of why she has decided to take part in the race and kindly donate some of the proceeds to With Kids.

Read Lisa's story below...

As a lone parent, back in Canada, organisations like With Kids really helped me. Now, I'd like to help give something back.

I've not set a goal, as I believe that every donation counts and I will be proud to donate any amount.

I will be running the Glasgow 10k in just under three weeks and so far the training is going well, with not too many hiccups along the way.

In just under three weeks I’ll be barrelling through the streets of Glasgow with thousands of others in the Great Scottish Run.

I’ll be doing the 10k event, and though not a feat for some, for me this was a huge undertaking to get my fitness up to snuff and not to mention I genuinely detest running.

As a complete non-runner at the start, I have set myself a goal of completion time of 70 minutes.

I had a slight set back in training with a sprained ankle followed on with a flu, which took three weeks out of my training time last month. So now I am training six out of seven days and it's tough going, but worth it.

On top of the physical training I have been on a pretty strict diet and can count on one hand the number of Alcoholic drinks I've consumed over the past three months!

On my journey I've dropped two dress sizes and lost nearly two stone,  pretty pleased with that so far!

Anyhow, if anyone would care to make a donation to either of the charities I am running in support of, it would be most welcome.

Please click HERE to visit Lisa's Just Give page to donate to With Kids!

If you'd like to find out more about how you can help to raise vital funds for With Kids please click HERE.

You can contact us on Facebook or Twitter or call us on 0141 550 5770.

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Dance the Tango and raise money for With Kids!

Tango Tipica, run by Catherine and Wim, have been dancing Argentinean Tango for more than 15 years and teaching for more than 8 years, both in Glasgow and abroad.

They're renowned for combining stylistic precision with musical interpretation and for keeping the authentic tradition alive.

Their dance style is shaped by the authentic tango of dancers such as Pepito and Suzuki Avellaneda, Antonio Todaro and Juan Carlos Copes.

The dancing duo are pleased to announce they will be supporting With Kids this year with all proceeds from their Tango activities being kindly donated to us!

If you are interested in taking part, having fun, and keeping fit, make sure you get involved:

• Series: The series consists of an (optional) free taster on 20th September and eight classes on Fridays 6.15pm-7.15pm, starting on Friday 4th October. 
• Location: Glasgow West End, in Turnbull Hall, 13-15 Southpark Terrace, Glasgow G12 8LG.
• Total fee for the series: Early Bird discount (before 13th September): £52 per person; after 13th September: £57 per person. All our proceeds go to With Kids.
• Pay: You can pay via their JustGiving page by clicking HERE.
• Dance partners: You need to enrol with a dance partner.

Let us know if you or any of your friends would be interested in taking part by leaving a comment either on our blog, Facebook or Twitter.

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Help pick the #WKMemories winner...!

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported and took part in the #WKMemories photo competition!

For those who don't know, we launched an online photo competition aimed at encouraging the public to reminisce and share their favourite childhood memory a couple of weeks ago.

We caught up with David Eustace over the weekend in order to choose the lucky winner.

Unfortunately, he picked a member of the With Kids team as the winner! Obviously, it would not be fair for them to win, so David has picked his next top five favourite photos and we are leaving the difficult task of choosing a winner down to you!

Below are David's top five favourite photos! The photo which gets the most combined 'Likes' on our Facebook page will win the overnight's stay for 2 at the CitizenM Hotel Glasgow.

As a massive thank you to everyone who entered, David has also kindly donated an exclusive print from his Highland Heart NYC show back in May 2013, which will be gifted to the person who gets the second most amount of 'Likes' on their photo.

This print was only available to guests who attended the opening night of David's show in May 2013, which was opened by Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, and this print cannot be purchased.

David has said that "You're all winners for leaving memories and moments which are special. I love some of the images and they remind us of a moment in time, even if it's just a tiny photo as in the case of Laurie Hancocks image of her father and sister on the last day of the streetcars running in LA."

Click HERE to vote for the photo you think should win and remember to share the photo with your friends so they can help pick a winner too! Please note that you must 'LIKE' the With Kids Facebook page as well as the photo in order for your vote to be counted!

Good luck everyone! The voting competition will run until Monday 9th September until 12 noon and we will announce the winner and runner up at 3pm that day.

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Alan Rough Celebrity AM - 2013

Are you a golf fan? Why don't you join us for the Alan Rough Celebrity AM golf tournament at the impressive Mar Hall near Glasgow. It's guaranteed to be a fun day out while raising vital funds for With Kids!

Mar Hall is a luxury five-star golf & spa resort located 10 minutes from Glasgow International Airport. Set within a tranquil 240 acre woodland estate it is perfect for both UK luxury hotel breaks and for business travel in Glasgow - with a little extra class.

The event takes place on Friday 11th October and teams of players, including celebrities, will compete on the day for both individual and team prizes.

The cost of entering a team is £600 for a team of 4 or 3, plus a celebrity from the list in the graphic below. The price of the team also includes golf and a 3 course dinner.

If you would like to book a team please either email events@fatbuzz.com or call Fiona on 0141 427 0727.

You can also contact fatBuzz on Facebook or Twitter.

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Ross is living his dream!

One of the With Kids ambassadors, Ross Morrison, who is a very talented athlete and was a Coca Cola Flames torch bearer in the Olympic Torch Relay has been living his dream.

Find out in this blog post how Ross has overcame his own personal struggles to become a professional basketball player and believes that all children deserve a chance to fulfil their dreams...

Recently there has been a lot happening with our young ambassador. His parents moved to be closer to him but he's left the country!

He got the opportunity to go to Dallas for a few days to meet up with his cousins and to give him a much needed break from the hectic year he'd just had. 

By chance while he was on holiday, he got spotted!

He has been asked to go back for 3 months and to train and play for TX Bluechips in the Summer Tournaments in Los Angeles and Las Vegas which has been an absolutely amazing opportunity for him!

He also met one of the former Glasgow Rocks players Rob Yanders whose team Ross was playing against.

So much for the guy who joined a basketball club over here and was told he would never play and remain a printer.

The young star has said that no matter how often someone says you can't try for your dream, if it's within reach, then go for it! 

Sometimes it just happens when you are not expecting it - so never give up!

After everything Ross has been through trying to become a basketball player it's taken a world class coach and a chance meeting to spot his true potential.

We hope you enjoy the photos of Ross going all out and living his dream!

We are currently running a competition on the With Kids Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the #WKMemories where you could win an overnight's stay for two at the CitizenM Hotel in Glasgow.

You can choose to upload an old photo, or you can take one of a place which you remember fondly from your childhood - it's completely up to you! To find out more about the competition please click HERE.

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Picture Perfect Competition from With Kids

At With Kids, we’re lucky to have some of Scotland’s most influential people as our ambassadors.

And one of our ambassadors, photographer, David Eustace, has agreed to help raise awareness of the work we do by putting his name to a photograph competition we’ve launched.

Launched at the beginning of this week, the online competition is aimed at encouraging the public to reminisce and share their favourite childhood memory.

Photographs are a great way of capturing memories, and with award-winning photographer growing up in the east end of Glasgow, which is seeing a huge transformation at the moment for the Glasgow 2014 games, he liked the idea of remembering the great times he had in a landscape which is quickly changing.

Nothing stays the same for forever. We all have memories of a time or place which can’t be revisited. Our competition is designed to help everyone remember a fond moment in their life, a moment that would bring a smile to their face.

Eustace said: “I jumped at the chance to judge this competition. Coming from the east end, I felt a real importance to be a part of this project. I take my role at With Kids really seriously, and anything which will benefit the charity, the work it does, and the children who use it is great.

“I think this is a great competition as it gives kids the opportunity to find out about what it was like to grow up in Glasgow when their parents were young. Not only that, it encourages them to learn more about photography, which you know is close to my heart too.”

Running for two weeks, the competition is dead easy to enter. It’s all done online, either on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, it’s up to you. Just remember, whatever social media platform you use though, you have to use the hashtag, #WKmemories.

Once the competition has closed, Eustace has agreed to go through all the entries and judge which one he thinks should be our winning image.

And thanks to the great people at the CitizenM Hotel, our winner will receive an overnight stay for two, in plush Glasgow boutique hotel.

If you’d like to take part in the competition, you can find the terms and conditions here.

For more information about the competition, just click here. In addition, you can watch the video below, where David speaks about the competition and one of his memories.

Good luck to all of you who enter, we’re looking forward to seeing your entries.

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Win an Overnight Stay in Glasgow's CitizenM Hotel

In conjunction with one of it’s ambassadors, David Eustace, With Kids is running a photo competition online, for entrants to share their favourite childhood memories.

Being based in the east end of Glasgow, the area surrounding With Kids, is changing and transforming with work on Glasgow 2014 infrastructure well underway. 

With the landscape changing in that part of the city, we’re encouraging everyone to either take a picture of their favourite place from their childhood, or simply upload an old photo from their early years.

Using #WKmemories, these should be posted onto Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Once the competition closes on Friday 30th August, David will judge the entries and award the winner with an overnight stay in Glasgow’s CitizenM hotel.

Below, you will find the Terms & Conditions for this very special competition.

• The competition closes on Friday 30th August 
• This competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Facebook and entrants agree to release Facebook from any and all liabilities in connection to the competition 
• In addition, this competition is also in no way associated, sponsored or endorsed by Twitter or Instagram. 
• All our decisions relating to the competition are final. No discussions or correspondence with entrants or any other person will be entered into. Management’s decision is final 
• Prize does NOT include flights to Glasgow
• The winner will be contacted by email or telephone no later than two working days after the prize draw closes 
• If the winner fails to respond within two days of being informed of their win, their prize will be forfeited and a new winner selected 
• By entering this competition you confirm you have read and accepted the terms above. 

The Competition Prize details include:

• An overnight stay for two to the CitizenM Hotel, Glasgow 

Good luck!

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The 'you know what' has hit the fan!

This weekend, our fantastic supporter, Samantha Sheridan was meant to be taking part in the London Triathlon to raise money for With Kids.

However, things didn't go to plan and after months of hard work and dedication, unfortunately for Samantha illness got in the way.

But all is not lost - read all about what other challenge she is taking part in below.

So after 2 months of training, cycling, running, squeezing wetsuits on and then off again... a virus seems to have taken GOLD!

Over a week of not being quite right has left me exhausted and dehydrated... I continued to run but 'runs' of a different theme have got in the way. My supporters who have kindly flown down from Glasgow sporting a banner have even commented on my muscle loss!!! Can I hide behind the banner???

I am gutted. My number is 2508 and my bike was serviced last week, it's all shiny and ready, plus my new Lycra tri-suit arrived which matches my wetsuit. I cant believe the weekends swimming in the cold outdoor pools of London has been a waste (way before the heatwave too!!!). 

However ALL IS NOT LOST!!! I am not a quitter and when I say I'll do something, and get sore bum cheeks from training so hard doing it, then I am not about to say 'oh well never mind'. And I want to compete for With Kids - its a charity I really believe in and want to do something for. 

So my friend Natalie has signed me up for the Brighton Triathlon - it's LONGER, TOUGHER and sea swimming!!! I'm scared, as all training has been for a sprint distance, but I do feel like I want and need a bigger challenge and I can assure you this time I will NOT be eating seafood or going near any busy virus filled places and in fact will maybe lock myself in a darkened room a week prior to race day. 

On a positive I think it will give more time for donations and it's definitely a life lesson,  because sometimes we work hard at something only to be halted by something else out-with our control - get up and aim higher!

I do thank everyone who has supported this far and I can't express how sad I am but please lets all keep momentum up. Brighton is in September and I'll keep you all updated soon... x

If you'd like to donate please visit Samantha's Just Giving page HERE.

For the latest updates from With Kids - remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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