Thursday 30 January 2014

A Belated but Heartfelt Thank You

Now that the seasonal chaos has just about died down, we would like to take a moment to thank all our With Kids supporters, both big and small, for your overwhelming response to our Christmas Appeal 2013.

Thanks to your invaluable support, we were able to provide 102 families in Glasgow and Edinburgh with food parcels, and also 232 children with presents to open on Christmas morning.


In addition to this, we also had 82 families along to our Christmas parties, where 175 kids received a present from Santa.


However, it’s not just at Christmas when we rely on donations; our summer programme and various groups and activities are also made possible this way throughout the year.


We simply couldn't reach as many families without your continued support, and we would like to take the time to thank some particular businesses, individuals, schools and nurseries who went above and beyond the call of duty last year.  


So, without further ado, (*drum roll*) we would like to take the opportunity to announce our very own New Years Honours List.



Thank you to the various businesses and organisations who helped support With Kids, including Scottish Fire & Rescue and Tommy Keay who as always, were amazing, The Disney Store in St Enoch Centre, fatBuzz, Kevin MaGuire and Merchant City Properties, Dell (Alexandra Parade), Excel Vending, Andrew Muirhead & Sons, Sainsbury's Longstone, Scottish National Heritage, CFC Foundation, Tango Tipica, UNITE, Port William Community Shop, El Barrio Glasgow, Maxim Tools, The Gallery, and Scottish Enterprise.

There were also many individuals who gave up their own valuable time in order to help make a huge difference to the families that With Kids support, including Tracy Heraghty and staff, friends and family from Scottish Power (Cathcart), Lisa Sullivan, Phil Worms of iomart Group, Alex and Jen Robertson, Laura O'Brien at CTG, Elaine McIntyre and Fraser Gowrie Johnston, Lorna Allan, Lucy Gardner at The Sun, and everyone who purchased from the Amazon Wish List.

As you are all aware of, we help provide individual, social and practical support to children and families across Scotland, so it was particularly heartwarming to receive the support from various primary schools and nurseries throughout Glasgow, including St Josephs Primary, Mount Florida Nursery, Balornock Primary, Ashcraig Primary, Alexandra Parade Primary, Garnetbank Primary and Wellfield Nursery.

Last but not least, thank you to Robert Carlyle, Emilie De Ravin and all the wonderful Once Upon A Time Fans, as well as JCI Glasgow and Daniel and Kim Robertson, who did an absolutely brilliant job organising and collecting donations from Caledonian and Glasgow University.

We have had so many people help us throughout the year that it’s impossible to name them all, so finally, we would like to say an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to everyone who donated, volunteered, tweeted, followed, shared and talked about With Kids in 2013.

You are all stars!

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Monday 13 January 2014

Christmas On Credit


“Was Santa good to you this year?”. The words every child is asked at Christmas time, the answer to which can only be yes in the eyes of their parents. Who just want to do best by their children by any means necessary and that can sometimes land them in trouble.


Financial trouble, at Christmas time, is always a tough time financially but for some families it can be far tougher and the rest of the new year can also become a struggle too.

In a recent channel 4 documentary, “Christmas on Credit”, these problems are addressed and explains just how difficult the Christmas period can be for Britain’s poorer families. 

It opens with statistics claiming that 11% of British families are still paying off money that they borrowed for Christmas 2012, 93% feel that they are under pressure to spend too much during the festive period and around 15% of British adults plan to take out a loan for this year. 

Perfection is strived for so nonchalantly that the struggle that follows can be very harrowing, but it is kept aside until the new year then the worrying truly begins.

Around seven million people will borrow money this Christmas and four million of that will borrow just so that they can provide their families with a good hearty Christmas dinner. 

For one of the families interviewed in the documentary, the loan taken out for 2012’s Christmas has still not been paid off and are planning on taking out another loan on credit to pay for this year. At a nationwide average of £822, though, does it comes as any surprise that debt will arise for those on benefits who struggle to make it through the week let alone Christmas.

Loans on credit that have been given out last Christmas and have failed to have been paid will result in lower credit scores, meaning that loans this year will be declined. This will mean that this Christmas will be difficult but if you can scrape by then great, but what about next year?

The stigma of the whole idea and pleasantries of Christmas dull down the negative thoughts of the repayments are kept at bay because seeing the smiles on their children's’ faces is worth it.

However all of this being said, what are your thoughts? Do you think that Christmas has been over-hyped and become the source of anxiety amongst many British households? Obviously it is a great festive time that should be full of joy and time with your family, but should it cause so much strain on people? 

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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