Christmas time.
A time for families, festivities, and fun.
A time for communities to come together, to support each other, and raise the profile of charities helping those who need it most.
Charities work tirelessly throughout the year to provide the best services to their communities, and as the festive season approaches, working together with other member organisations is the perfect opportunity to raise the bar, raise awareness, and ensure that you reach even more beneficiaries.
A great example of bringing communities together is…
Bolton Together
Bolton Together is the children and young people’s voluntary and community sector consortium for Bolton. Promoting social inclusion for children and their families, the consortium focuses on improving health and wellbeing, working collaboratively by integrating services and using existing resources effectively.
Showing their collaborative approach, Bolton Together has launched their Bolton Christmas Appeal 2024, working with their amazing members to boost support for children and families over the Christmas period.
Members of the consortium and how they are supporting this year’s appeal include:
- Action for Children is running a Secret Santa appeal this year, supporting vulnerable children by providing essential items such as warm clothes, a hot meal, and a special present.
- Bolton Lads and Girls Club are shining the light on child poverty by asking for donations of gifts and food this Christmas. Donors can sponsor a bauble (with a specific request written), take a present tag from their Christmas tree to donate that present, or donate online.
- Bolton Toy Library is collecting donations for its toy bank, which will be donated to children and families throughout Bolton. They’re looking for good as new or new toys, games, and gift sets.
- Homestart HOST is running Operation Sparkle, which focuses on helping provide families with financial support so that they’re able to experience fun and magical days out in 2025.
- Reach Family Project is looking for donations of new or unused gifts for children aged 0-16 or for elderly people. Gifts will be donated to local communities, sharing the spirit of Christmas.
- Urban outreach is working hard to provide hampers to those who are struggling this Christmas. Ensuring everyone has a meal for the festive period, Urban Outreach is accepting donations at their Food Hub at Trinity Retail Park.
A Community Focus
So many people now support local charities as they see the positive benefits they bring to their community. People want to help their community, and collaboration projects like Bolton Together is a great example of how charities can come together to successfully showcase their work through a larger overarching campaign, such as a Christmas Appeal.
I’m a big believer in collaboration and working together to achieve greater things, and a charity that resonates with me and my family is Bolton Wanderers in the Community.
An independent registered charity and the charitable arm of Football Club, Bolton Wanderers, the charity aims to provide positive engagement and quality experiences to the wider community. Inspiring people and raising aspirations through the power of sport and healthy lifestyles.
Showing our support toward the charity we recently attended their Charity Dinner, where we sponsored one of their many incredible awards, and after listening to how passionate the charity is about working together and supporting their community, I will also be taking part in their 10k Community Run on Sunday, 13th April 2025 (make sure to keep an eye on my training progress through our social channels)….wish me luck!
Charities at Christmas
We often talk about the power of working together and the significant impact charities can have when they align and pool resources and expertise, and again, Bolton Together is a great example of this.
Planning Christmas campaigns and ensuring these campaigns align with your charity purpose is key to raising donations and supporting more people in your community at what is a wonderful but, for many, challenging time of year. From all of the team at Beyond Profit, we hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and if you have a Christmas charity campaign you would like us to promote and share on our social channels, please get in touch and let us know.
