Little Cerys ONeill (4), gets ready to donate a toy to the Cash for Kids festive Mission Christmas toy campaign at the Stena Line Victoria Terminal 4 drop off point in Belfast.
LEADING ferry company Stena Line has teamed up with the Downtown Radio and Cool FM’s Cash for Kids festive ‘Mission Christmas’gift campaign this year to help ensure that disadvantaged local children can enjoy a special Christmas.
1 in 3 children live in poverty in our area and around 7,000 applications have been made for gifts this year so the Mission Christmas campaign is asking people to buy an extra present that will be distributed to a deserving local child or young person.
The gift should be new, unwrapped and suitable for children and young people aged 0-17 and those partaking in the campaign can drop off their gift at Victoria Terminal 4 in Belfast or on one of Stena Line’s Irish Sea North Ships.
Diane Poole OBE, Head of PR and Communications at Stena Line explains why the Mission Christmas appeal plays such an important role for local children:
“Christmas is such a joyful occasion for everyone especially children who excitedly await a visit from Santa Claus however the festive season is also a time to remember those less fortunate than ourselves who do not receive lots of presents and gifts from loved ones.
“Christmas can be an extremely hard time for disadvantaged children and at Stena Line we would like to spread as much Christmas cheer and goodwill as possible by helping local children.
“We are really pleased to get involved in the Mission Christmas appeal which helps so many families all over Northern Ireland and we encourage any customers who would like to get involved to feel free to leave gifts at our drop off point at Victoria Terminal 4 in Belfast or on one of our Irish Sea North ships,” added Diane.
Andrea Charles, Charity Manager at Cash for Kids, Cool FM said:
“Last year we distributed gifts to over 6000 children, which was fantastic, but the need is greater than ever and we aim to increase this by 20% this Christmas. We would encourage everyone to support those less fortunate than themselves by buying an extra gift this year and dropping it in to their nearest collection point.
“We always find ourselves with a particular shortage of gifts appropriate for children aged 0–3 or 9–17 and so we particularly need items for children within these brackets,” added Andrea.
Gift suggestions are listed below –
Board games/puzzles
Perfume/Aftershave sets
Footballs/Sports equipment
Books
Clothing and accessories
Educational sets
Baby clothes, blankets, baby books
Card games
Sensory/light up toys
Craft sets
Toys are urgently needed for boys and girls aged 0 – 3 and 9 – 17 years old. Unfortunately donations of used toys cannot be accepted. For more information go to www.coolfm.co.uk/mission/
For more information on Stena Line go to www.stenaline.co.uk
Little Cerys ONeill (4), joins Diane Poole of Stena Line and Rebecca McKinney and Pete Snodden from Cool FM as they get ready to donate a toy to the Cash for Kids festive Mission Christmas toy campaign at the Stena Line Victoria Terminal 4 drop off point in Belfast.
