End of Summer Party!

With Kids End of Summer Party on Saturday was so much fun! There was around 100 people there and everyone had a great time. For those of you who regularly read our blog will know that the party was held at Calton Fire Station on Saturday and we are pleased to let you all know that it was a success.

We are so grateful to Micro Supply Co. for their kind donation and want to thank them and many other companies including Epilepsy Scotland in helping us source donations through Twitter. We would also like to thank Mairi McMinn and Donna Henry for swamping us with homemade cakes. Mairi went out her way to get donations from Tunnocks and Kiplings, which went down a treat with the kids. Calton Fire Station staff were fantastic and the kids had a go at using the water hoses and loved the fire appliances. Allied Credit International (UK) sent 4 volunteers who were, as always, a huge help. And a big thank you to the staff and ladies who delivered the workshops and face painting, all of whom volunteered their own time. All of these kind donations are so greatly appreciated and meant that tour first ever End of Summer Party will be remembered as being such great fun.

We have added the photos from the party to our facebook page, so take a minute to take a look at all the fun we had!

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End of Summer Party! Can you donate any party supplies?...

It's the end of With Kids' Summer Programme and we are marking the occasion with a party! The kids and families have had such a great fun filled summer and the party will be a lovely ending to great times had. Many of our families have enjoyed trips to Kelburn Country Park, camping at Ardgartan Campsite as well as enjoying our Wednesday night cinema nights.

The summer programme would not have been the same without our fantastic volunteers from Allied International and we would like to thank them for all their help.

The party kicks off at 1:30pm this Saturday (13th August 2011) at Calton Fire Station and we expect between 60-100 people to be there. The kids can look forward to a tour of the fire station from the Fire Fighters as well as checking out the fire engines. We are so grateful to Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Services for being so kind and allowing us to hold the party at the station and we are sure the kids will have a ball.

Although we have the venue arranged we are also looking for help in finding donations for party food supplies. We have a fully functioning kitchen, meaning we have the facilities to prepare food. However, given our really tight budget we are looking for any donations of any kind that would help us make the party more of a success and would really appreciate any food donations. We are also looking for someone to help with our entertainment in the form of a magician or a juggler or any kind of kids entertainer. We fully appreciate that it is a lot to ask for someone to give up their time, however, we would really appreciate any help.


Do you know of anyone that can help us out with the basic party food supplies such as bread for sandwiches, ham/cheese for fillings, cakes or juice or any party food supplies? If you can help out in anyway please contact Suzy by email on s.bair@withkids.org.uk.


As a charity we rely on the kind donations from supporters and greatly appreciate any additional help. Thank you to all our current and future supporters. Please visit out website to find out more information on the work that we do to support families and children in the East End of Glasgow. You can also follow us on twitter or join our facebook community to keep up to date on all our activities and news.

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Kids freeze in their own homes...in Glasgow

A Glasgow-based charity which helps some of the city’s most vulnerable children is calling on gas and electricity suppliers to help ease fuel poverty.

With Kids is working to ensure that families at this time of year can help meet their fuel bills.

The charity seeks to help very vulnerable children from some of Glasgow’s most deprived communities and their families overcome the effects of alcohol, drug abuse and domestic violence to ensure they get a decent start in life.

Research has shown that thousands of families struggle at this time of the year simply to ensure that their homes are heated. Many will go without food and Christmas gifts for their children in a desperate fight to keep their homes lit and heated.

If a family gets into arrears with their fuel payments their supplier can grab up to 70% of these payments to pay off the arrears. That means only 30p in every one pound spent goes into heating the home.

With Kids, Business Development Manager, Angela Beattie said: “At this time of year a distressingly high number of families and their children are at risk of freezing in their own homes because they simply cannot afford to heat them. And the winter we are currently experiencing is causing real material hardship for the most vulnerable in our city.

“We have also found that hundreds of families will be unable to provide their children with Christmas gifts because they scraped together what little they have to prevent their gas and electricity supplies being turned off. And although families with children under the age of five will rarely have their supplies stopped they find it impossible to struggle free of their fuel debt and will go without food to keep paying.

“One of the ways in which we try to help combat this is to organise a Christmas party on Christmas Eve with the help of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue. This year’s event at Calton Fire Station will see 200 families being given presents that they otherwise wouldn’t have. This means they have one thing less to worry about as they fight to pay the winter fuel bills.
“But the bigger issue remains: what are government and fuel suppliers, whose prices are set to jump again this winter, doing to ensure the most needy in our society can be helped.”

With Kids is one of the Evening Times Community Champions. This year’s Christmas Party will see poor kids experience for the first time what others take for granted. This will include a Christmas meal, games and a visit from Santa Claus. The Calton firefighters will be on hand to give the children rides on the fire engines and they’ll host the party.

For those who want to donate cash or gifts to help pay for the With Kids Christmas Party please contact Angela Beattie on:

Telephone 0141 550 5770 or e mail a.beattie@withkids.org.uk

You can also donate on line by visiting www.justgiving.com/withkids

Written by Kevin McKenna, The Word Agency. Email kevin@wordagency.net

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