Gift Appeal Week 2024
15th December 2024
Each year, Stevenage Community Trust provides £150 Christmas vouchers to families in need across Stevenage and its surrounding villages. This initiative helps families struggling to give their children the Christmas they deserve. It’s a cause we are incredibly proud of, and it forms a significant part of our goal to distribute £100,000 each year. This year, we have awarded 246 families with vouchers, totalling £36,900.
We are thrilled to support our community, and as we spoke more about our Christmas Gift Card scheme, many people expressed a desire to get involved. To answer this, we launched our first-ever ‘Stevenage Community Trust Gift Appeal Week’ last year. This year, the exciting week ran from November 23rd to November 30th, and we were overwhelmed by the support from the entire community!
Throughout the week, various events and fundraisers took place, including non-school uniform days (thank you to Fairlands School and Shephalbury Park Primary School), a Christmas raffle (thank you Lawrence Dean Recruitment), Office Christmas Jumper and Lunch Day (thank you to IPM Administrations and Utility Line), and generous donations made in place of Christmas cards (thank you, Knebworth House). We also want to thank GCIS (UK) Ltd for sponsoring our new branded gazebo, which looked fantastic at our events!
A special thanks to The Follet Trust for their generous donation of £15,000 to our Christmas cause.
We were delighted to host numerous event throughout the week, including the wonderful Anna at Em’s Florist hosting two Christmas Wreath Workshops, where 50 ladies created their own wreaths in support of SCT. Thank you to Everyone Active Stevenage for providing a room for these workshops.
Additionally, Stevenage Community Trust partnered with Stevenage Council for the Old Town Light Switch-On. Our very own Santa made a festive appearance on the High Street in a red convertible, spreading cheer throughout the local community. A huge thank you to volunteer photographer Simon Lane, whose photos from the event can be viewed here.
Finally, we'd like to express our gratitude to Chesfield Downs Golf Club for hosting our first Christmas Carol Fundraiser. It was a heartwarming celebration of festive joy. We were thrilled to watch performances by Fairlands Primary School, St Vincent De Paul, and the Stevenage Singers. The evening was a resounding success, raising an impressive £650, with generous raffle sponsorship from Utility Line. A big thank you to volunteer photographer Claudia Griffin, whose beautiful photos can be viewed here.
We are immensely grateful to everyone who contributed and supported these efforts to help our community. Thanks to your generosity, we’ve made it possible for all the children in Stevenage and surrounding villages to have the Christmas they deserve.
