Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas
The Glasgow Purple House Clinic are taking part in the Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas scheme, pledging to buy 50 gifts for the, ‘One Parent Family,’ charity in Glasgow City Centre.
The latest statistics for child poverty in Glasgow are sobering- 1 in 3 children live in poverty, exacerbated by the Covid-pandemic and current economic crisis. The 9th annual Glasgow Spirit of Christmas is hoping to make some Christmas wishes come true for the poorest children in Glasgow and surrounding areas.
The scheme has joined-up with over 100 charities, the Health & Social Care Partnership, County Councils and numerous local community projects. The scheme is highly organised. Businesses and individuals can make a cash or gift donation to an organisation, such as Barnardos or Home Start and then choose the age group and gender they wish to support. Since 2014, the scheme has helped 89,898 local children and donated £3.2 million worth of gifts.
‘One Parent Family’ is the Glasgow branch of ‘One Parent Families Scotland.’ The charity provides invaluable support and advice on employability, benefits, crisis loans, family support and wellbeing.
Clinical Director, Michelle Muniz said they deliberately focussed their pledges on the older age groups: 13-15 years and 16-18 years. Historically, teenagers are the last group to receive pledges in the scheme. Michelle said that, ‘teenagers are often overlooked compared to younger children in need so we wanted to share our love and care with this group’.
The choice of charity was also deliberate. Many single-parent families have to contend with living in substandard, often damp properties. With the spiralling cost of living, budgets are already stretched to cover basic food and living costs. Buying Christmas presents has become an impossible luxury for many families. Michelle said, ‘We wanted to give gifts, parents are already making hard choices’.
The whole staff team at The Purple House Clinic Glasgow are getting behind the pledge, gifting items ranging from hoodies, blankets to luxurious toiletries.
Further support needed:
Usually all pledges to the Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas scheme are filled by Christmas but it is proving more difficult this year, due to the cost of living crisis.
For more information on how to support Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas, visit the website: https://glasgowsspiritofchristmas.org.uk/
For more information on the ‘One Parent Families Scotland (and Glasgow branch) visit the website: https://opfs.org.uk/who-we-are/local-services/glasgow/
To learn more about The Purple House Clinic Glasgow, please visit our website: https://www.purplehouseclinic.co.uk/psychologists-glasgow/