Scouts Prepared to Make Christmas Better for Care Leavers
Wrap up present and hampers with help of two local MPs
Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq lends a hand
December 28, 2023
Scouts and families from 25th Ealing Scouts came together before Christmas to help the charity Ealing Xmas Dinner.
On the evening of Wednesday 20 December they wrapped presents and hampers to be given to young care leavers on Christmas Day.
They were joined in their efforts by two local MPs James Murray (Ealing North) and Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton).
The Christmas Dinners is an annual event created by writer and care leaver Lemn Sissay OBE which aims to ensure that no care leaver is alone on 25 December. With over 30 events happening nationwide each year, The Christmas Dinners serves to create happy memories at what can be a difficult time for many.
Ealing Xmas Dinner is a volunteer-run organisation which aims to support this work. For some care leavers this year may be their first Christmas alone and independent, so it is hoped that providing these vulnerable people with a sense of safety and warmth will make a difference.
Pam Phull, from Ealing Xmas Dinner said, “It's our fourth year running these dinners and the second time that the Scouts are helping. We are all volunteers here and all live locally - and what you can see here, is the community showing up for Young Adults to help them create memories.”
Nisha Patel, 25th Ealing Scouts said, "As Scouts, we always want to do our bit for the community. It's part of our Scout promise to help other people - and you can really feel that the scouts , even our youngest Beavers are really having a great time, what better way for them and their families to get into the Christmas Spirit.”
James Murray helps a scout gift wrap a present for a young care leaver
James Murray added, " It's so warming that these gifts are being wrapped here tonight and will be opened next week by a young adult" and Rupa Huq commented, "what a lovely example of the community coming together to show they care".
Support for Ealing Xmas Dinner goes towards paying for each young person to receive a special Christmas Day dinner, some presents, and an essential hamper each to support them in the days after the Christmas Day event.
The link for more information and to donate is here.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |