Your help goes a very long way...

Christmas is a time of the year that can be really tough financially. Each year we provide families that are struggling by providing presents, food hampers and credit towards utility bills for families that will otherwise go without.

Here at With Kids, we hear some heartbreaking stories of people left in desperate situations with literally nowhere to turn.

Last year we worked with many families who were in great need of support.

One particular family had 6 children and the mother had become so severely ill with MS that the father had to give up work to care for her and the kids.

Another woman's husband had walked out on her and their 3 kids taking every penny with him and leaving them with nothing. They'd planned to use his wage to go out shopping at the beginning of December but he used it to set up a new flat. She tried desperately to get loans but couldn't and finally heard about us 5 days before Christmas.

One woman had bought presents for the kids but at the expense of her electricity. She had a meter but every time she spent £10 on her card, £7 was taken towards her debt leaving her with just £3. She couldn't afford it in the run up to Christmas so stopped buying the cards, cutting herself off and leaving her without any heat or light.

Sadly, these stories aren't isolated incidents, you hear variations of them time and time again.

All families, regardless of background find that they have difficulties from time to time and too often parent's may not be aware of available support or the best action to take. With Kids aim to fill that gap and to provide flexible support that is suited to the needs of children and parents.

That is why we wanted to  take the time to thank our friends who have supported us and donated to the charity. We could not do it without you so from the bottom of our hearts, thank you!

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David Eustace becomes a With Kids ambassador - Part Three

Celebrity photographer, and fellow East End inhabitant, David Eustace has joined forces with Glasgow Children's Charity "With Kids" as an ambassador to the charity.

David grew up in a poverty stricken area of the East End of Glasgow, and he knows first hand of the difficulties and disadvantages that most children in the east end have had to experience, so he offers his own words of wisdom to help the children reach their targets in life.

In this final part of three videos, David speaks of how it is important for kids to remember that the only thing that can hold them back is themselves, and how they must make the effort to achieve their goals.

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David Eustace becomes a With Kids ambassador - Part One

Celebrity photographer, and fellow East End inhabitant, David Eustace has joined forces with Glasgow Children's Charity "With Kids" as an ambassador to the charity.

Having grown up in a poverty stricken area in the east end of Glasgow in the 60's and 70's and raised by adoptive parents Jimmy and Susan Eustace, David knew of the troubles that families have gone through in the less fortunate areas of the city, but he encourages children never to let the fact that you are from the east end hold you back.

 "It doesn't matter what your second name is, or where you come from, or what other members of your family have done, it's all about you, tomorrow and what you can achieve. You can have dreams, you can do it, but it will involve a lot of bloody hard work."


In this part one of three interviews, David talks of his up-bringing in the east end of Glasgow, his happy memories of his childhood, and tells us the advice he would give to children in order for them to reach their goals.

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New Ambassador for "With Kids" tells kids to aim high no matter where they come from.

Celebrity photographer, and fellow East End inhabitant, David Eustace has joined forces with Glasgow Children's Charity "With Kids" as an ambassador to the charity.

David grew up in the poverty stricken area in the 60's and 70's by adoptive parents Jimmy and Susan Eustace and says that "It doesn't matter what your second name is, or where you come from, or what other members of your family have done, it's all about you, tomorrow and what you can achieve. You can have dreams, you can do it, but it will involve a lot of bloody hard work."

After leaving school with no qualifications, David went on to become a prison officer in his early 20s at notorious Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow. He said it taught him a lot about life but it wasn't his calling. He said: "Quite a few boys I grew up with ended up in the jail. I tried never to judge them. I tried to understand them".

To read a recent interview in the Daily Record click here.

Check out David's website here.

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AIC Operation's Director's transformation to charity Quiz Master

Friday 1st April 2011 saw Operation's Director of AIC Glasgow, Martin Roseweir, change roles to Quiz Master for the evening. Even though it was April Fools day, the joke was on the losing team who were tasked a forfeit. Martin picked up the microphone to quiz the staff in order to raise much needed funds for the East End Children's charity.

The staff packed into one of the function rooms that was kindly donated by O'Couture, Glasgow. On the night a total of £650 was raised for With Kids. But the fundraising effort doesn't stop there, the Charity Committee at AIC have committed themselves to raising over £5000 over the year for the charity, they are not only donating much needed money, but also "man hours". An example of this was when they helped to paint the therapy room at the With Kids HQ. The staff have also pledged to help with the garden renovation project that is happening soon and also kindly donated their time at Christmas by helping to wrap presents for the kids and donated £1000 from a dress down day.

Janine Burch, HR Manager at AIC said that the company was looking for a local charity to support and found With Kids. She said that "they are pleased to be helping a local charity that helps kids in Glasgow's East End and have the opportunity to give something back to the community". Janine also highlighted the fact that all staff have Disclosure Scotland checks and some staff also have Enhanced Disclosures, meaning that they can help directly with the children when it comes to joining in with events.

Operations Director, Martin Roseweir co-ordinated the quiz night by sitting up into the wee small hours comprising questions to ask the staff. A full ten rounds of question's had everyone's brains working overtime, as if it wasn't bad enough that they had done a full day's shift! But their efforts were rewarded with the winning team scooping £100 prize money.

Martin has his own special story to share as he was brought up in Priesthill in Glasgow which is a working class area. His father worked at Chrysler, the famous car plant in Renfrewshire that ended up closing and made all the workers redundant. Martin's parent's separated when he was 12 years old, so he knows exactly what challenge's children face in today's society. Martin is also a father and said "it is important to give something back to the kids of Glasgow as some kids are more privileged than others". Martin has worked his way up the ranks with AIC and is an inspiration and good role model for the children that With Kids help.

Another charity committee member who took part in the quiz was Neil Greene, who is a Team Leader in the Collections Department. Neil is organising a 10K run with 7 staff members already signed up for the challenge, and so far they have raised £350 and counting. Neil is also a father and hails from County Down, Ireland and said "Glasgow is my adopted home, and it's good to give something back to Glasgow kids". Neil is going to keep the team at With Kids up to date with this event so watch this space for another Blog post.

Craig Seggie who is a Team Leader in the Motor Department said that he came along on the night "to provide for people less fortunate than me".

The With Kids team are extremely grateful to have been selected as AIC's charity partner and would like to thank all the staff for all their hard work and dedication that they have shown towards the charity so far. This makes such a difference to the kids that we support and we look forward to all the events that are yet to come in 2011!

To see pictures of the night please check out the With Kids Facebook page.

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With Kids Play Therapy: Case Study

With Kids, Glasgow regularly operates a Play Therapy class for children that attend the centre. Here is an example of why Play Therapy is so important and how it makes a difference to a child's life. This is just some of the work that we do.

Key Issues
Child A (aged 10) was referred by primary school due to concerns about emotional difficulties, especially anger and behavioural issues at school (including anti-social concerns and sexualised behaviour). Child A's family situation was cause for concern with a mother who admitted to prostituting from the family home when Child A was younger and with a history of drug abuse. Child C was now in the care of a family member who stated that the child struggled with separation, which was causing distress for all concerned

Intervention
Over 11 months, the play therapist noted that Child A was initially very silent, guarded and anxious and play was limited and physically contained. At first the child engaged mainly in art activities and was prolific in the amount of work produced. The play therapist felt that this was content rich and seemed cathartic for the child.

Themes in play related to fear violence, chaos, confusion, destruction and lack of safety. It also revealed that the child found transitions difficult. Over time play moved on to exploring sand and other sensory materials and playing with cars. It was noted that play was very repetitive and mirrored the play of a much younger child suggesting that the child had missed out on some early development play.

Outcomes
As time progressed Child A's play developed a much more spontaneous element becoming more vocal and expressive with frequent laughing and smiling and was increasingly more relaxed. The child began to develop reciprocal play with the therapist and began to cope better with transitions.

The play therapist was able to suggest that Child A would benefit from further opportunities to revisit activities associated with early development, such as sensory and tactile activities. It also recommended that continued support be provided to help Child A deal with transitions.

Staff at school reported that Child A seemed more settled and calm with increased confidence and was taking on more responsibility. Child A became more willing to engage and speak and behaviour became less challenging.

The family carer felt that Child A had made a 'huge improvement' and commented that they couldn't remember the last time Child A had had a 'temper tantrum'.

For further information and reading on Play Therapy please follow the links: http://www.bapt.info/ or http://www.playtherapy.org.uk/.

For more information on the work that With Kids do in the east end of Glasgow have a look at our Website, Blog, Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. You can also call us on 0141 550 5770.

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Spring has sprung, the grass is green, i wonder where the birdies been?

With Kids are stepping into spring with the Spring Fair on Saturday 5th March. With Kids are hoping to raise much needed funds for the charity. The event will be a fun-filled day with stalls selling new and (gently) used clothes and toys, games and competitions, face-painting and entertainment. We would be delighted if you could join us on the day with... your friends and family to pick up a bargain, have a great day and help us raise money for a fantastic cause.

We would also like to ask for a little help with donations for our bakery stall and also for some competition prizes. It may be that you love to bake or even have an unwanted Christmas gift that could go to a good home, if so then we would love to hear from you; please contact us on 0141 550 5770 or email Suzie with your suggestions or donations.

Thank you so much for your support of With Kids, we look forward to hearing from you and/or seeing you on the day.

If you have found this of interest then please feel free to share with your online community. Thank you.

Asda Foundation helps transform derelict building

With Kids were delighted to recently accept a cheque for £13,855 from Asda Foundation. This fantastic grant will help us to transform what was a previously derelict building at 15 Annfield Place into a fully equipped Drop-In centre for children and families in the East End of Glasgow.

The Asda Foundation supports local causes nominated by Asda colleagues which helps to make a huge difference to the local community. The Asda Foundation was set up to give something back to the community and is UK wide.

This will make a tremendous difference to our work and we are hugely grateful to Asda Foundation.

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With Kids Christmas Appeal 2010

Christmas is a special time of the year. At no other time are children exposed to so many pictures of happy families and gift-laden homes.

Yet for many children, such images are merely a pipe dream, owing to poverty, family breakdown and illness. For them, Christmas is simply another day devoid of the joy and warmth that the rest of us take for granted.

On Christmas Eve this year, ‘With Kids', is staging an alternative Christmas for children and their families in Glasgow’s East End. These are families who may otherwise struggle to provide any sort of Christmas for their children.

We want to provide a special day that will include games, a festive dinner and presents from Santa.We also want to ensure that these families all have sufficient clothing, heat, food and support over the period so that they can experience something of the joy that Christmas brings to the rest of us.

We are in desperate need of donations and support to enable this to happen.

£5.00 provides a goody bag at our christmas party
£10.00 pays for lunch for four at our christmas party
£20.00 fills a christmas stocking
£30.00 provides food for a family of four or winter clothing

We recognise that every donation is an extrordinary act, but it would allow these children and their families simply to enjoy a normal Christmas.

For info on how to donate, whether it be gifts, money or time then please email info@withkids.org.uk



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