Can you help us bring Christmas to local children this year?

Tuesday 20th October 4pm

In 2012, during a counselling session, a six-year-old boy told us he hated Santa.

His dad had told him that Santa forgot to come down the chimney but would come back the next week. Santa never came back. That little boy hadn’t had a Christmas meal or a single present for two years. His dad, a single parent doing his very best, simply said, “I just can’t do it.”

That conversation became the HABS Christmas Appeal.

This year marks the 13th year of our appeal, and with your help we want to reach more children and families than ever before. Last year, thanks to the kindness of our community, we delivered Christmas sacks to over 773 children and provided more than £10,000 in festive meal vouchers to 360 families across Hertfordshire, Essex and the surrounding areas.

HABS Strength in Mind is an Associate Member of Love Hoddesdon BID and works alongside 50 primary and secondary schools, supporting children, young people and their families through counselling, family support and community projects. Every family we help through this appeal is referred to us by schools, agencies, the local church or our own team, so you can be confident that your gift reaches someone who truly needs it.

This year we are especially looking for:
🎨 Arts and crafts materials
🧸 Toys
🎲 Family board games
🎧 Teenage gifts such as headphones, speakers and winter gift sets
🍽️ Financial donations towards a festive meal for a family

How you can help:
🎁 Shop our Amazon wishlist: https://amzn.eu/ah9GuHj
💷 Donate via our GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/aa6d399ab
🏢 Organise a toy appeal at your workplace, school or club
📣 Share this post so it reaches as many people as possible

Every parcel we send includes a list of the businesses and individuals who made it possible, and the feedback families send back to us is shared with everyone who contributed. It is genuinely some of the most heart-warming news we receive all year.

No gift is too small. A board game, a set of pens or a few pounds towards a Christmas dinner can mean a child wakes up on Christmas morning knowing they haven’t been forgotten.

If you’d like to know more, or you know a family who could benefit, please get in touch at admin@HABScharity.org.uk or call 01992 303331 (option 5).

Thank you, from all of us at HABS, for helping make Christmas a little brighter.