Spreading the festive joy this Christmas!

For many survivors, Christmas can be an overwhelming time. They may have recently fled an abusive relationship, be living in a refuge for Christmas, be experiencing economic abuse, experiencing their first Christmas alone, unable to purchase gifts for their children and so much more. Whatever their circumstances, the goodwill of our community has meant that they feel seen, heard and supported this Christmas.

The impact of these donations is seen in the following feedback that one of our Children & Young People Mentors received from a mum:

“Thank you for the amazing collection of presents and gift vouchers. I was struggling to get one present for the children this year, and now they will have an array of presents under the tree. I am grateful beyond belief, please thank everyone concerned.”

Without the generosity of our community, we simply wouldn’t be able to donate such an array of gifts to the families that we support. Whilst some donate a selection of toys, others purchase for specific children, age groups, mum’s and survivors. We have also received donations in lieu of sending Christmas cards, from a carol concert and care packages for women fleeing over the Christmas period or survivors living on the streets.

We would like to say a jolly big thank you to all of those who have helped Rising Sun spread the Christmas spirit this year, including:

Danielle Brenchley and the Ashford community who donated 28 personalised gift bags for women and children.
Whitstable Mum’s for delivering 49 named gifts, 14 gifts and 25 gift bags for mum’s.
Dunelm in Canterbury for supporting Rising Sun through their Delivery Joy this Christmas scheme, in which their gifting tree collected more than 40 gifts for children and young people that we support.
East Kent Widows Sons for donating a massive pile of presents to Rising Sun from their annual toy run in December.
Civica East Kent for donating the proceeds of their Christmas raffle to Rising Sun, alongside gift cards for survivors.
TSB for organising a collection of children’s toys and items for our Home Starter packs in their Bluewater branch.
Kent College Canterbury for hosting an Arts & Crafts Collection over the Christmas period to support our Children and Young People services throughout the year.
The community of Goodnestone, including St Nicholas, Ash & Church of the Holy Cross at Goodnestone, Goodnestone WI and Goodnestone Primary School for choosing to Liberty House this Christmas through collecting gifts and essential items at their St Nicholas Day Service.
Lord Mayor of Canterbury’s Christmas Gift Fund for generously donating 10x gift cards to the young women spending Christmas at Liberty House.
Windsor Court Social Club for collecting items to be packed into our Care Packages for women fleeing domestic abuse and living on the streets over Christmas and in the New Year.
Brakes in Ashford for hosting a reverse advent where they collected essential items for our Care Packages for women fleeing domestic abuse and survivors living on the streets over Christmas and in the New Year.
Adisham Community who delivered gifts for mum’s, essential items for care packages and gift cards for survivors in memory of Julia James.
Rift in Ashford who donated food vouchers to be gifts to survivors to ensure they could enjoy all of the delicious festivities that we all love at Christmas.
St Peter’s Methodist Church in Canterbury for hosting a collection for Rising Sun in December, where the community donated toys and essential items for Care Packages.
Canterbury Christ Church University who collected items for Care Packages for survivors, alongside donating the ticket sales of the staff children’s Christmas party.
Sixth Form students at St Anselm’s Catholic School for organising a Giving Tree to collect gifts for young women staying at Liberty House this Christmas.
Cardo at Canterbury Christ Church University for choosing to support Rising Sun through donating gifts and essential items for young women staying at Liberty House this Christmas.
Herne Bay High School and Aura Studios for collecting items to donate 50 gift bags for mum’s whose children have been impacted by domestic abuse.
Primark in Canterbury for organising a collection by staff and customers of essential items for Care Packages to be donated to women fleeing domestic abuse over Christmas and in the New Year.
Tesco in Ashford for hosting a collection trolley at the store entrance for customers to donate toys to children impacted by domestic abuse.
The Salvation Army in Canterbury for donating a range of gifts, including toys, food, snacks, goodies for young mum’s and fizzy drinks to Liberty House.
Canterbury Chartham Garden Centre Blue Diamond for donating 50 toys to children impacted by domestic abuse to enjoy this Christmas.
Hoath with District WI for donating £45 in lieu of exchanging Christmas cards with one another.
Neptune Choir for raising £1,500 through ticket sale and a collection on the night at their annual Christmas Carol’s concert.
The community of Lower Hardres & Nackington for choosing to support Rising Sun at their annual Community Christmas Carols event in St Mary’s Church, raising £220 for victim-survivors of domestic abuse.
The generous individuals who have chosen to make personal donations to Rising Sun this festive period to enable us to continue providing specialist domestic abuse support to victim-survivors of domestic abuse this Christmas and in the New Year.

Each year we are truly overwhelmed by the openness of our community to donate towards and give gifts to women and families that they have never met, but empathise with their vulnerability. We continue to be thankful to all who support Rising Sun and show kindness to all of those that we support. Those who donate will never know the impact of their gifts on each individual survivor, but the following feedback gives an insight into the difference their kindness makes at what can be an incredible difficult time of year.

“Absolutely blown away, lost for words, I never expected such a lovely load of gifts for the children. Absolutely beyond words, I cannot express how blown away I am. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“Completely overwhelmed with the amount of gifts! And for my gift card! Thank you so much.”
“What a difference you have made in our lives as I’m sure you have in others too!”
“We are all grateful for your kindness, I cannot wait to J when he gets in from school! Thank you.”
“Thank you so much for the gifts! This time of year can be a struggle.”

To everyone who donated, thank you!

If you would like to support Rising Sun next year by hosting a toy collection, organising a giving tree or a reverse advent, by donating gifts, donating ticket sales from a show, party or concert or by making a financial donation to our work – we would love to hear from you. Simply get in touch with our fundraising team at fundraising@risingsunkent.com and let us know your plans!