This festive season, asylum seekers and refugees in Bradford will once again feel the warmth and kindness from the local community as, thanks to a Christmas Gift Appeal, each family and every individual child supported by Refugee Action will receive a wrapped gift to open at Christmas.
This is the fifth year of the gift appeal initiative, organised by Ilkley resident Felicity Tomblin, with the aim of bringing joy and love to vulnerable families seeking refuge in the city.
As a result of people’s kindness and generosity, Felicity and her team of volunteers were able to deliver 37 large boxes of Christmas gifts all packaged by age and gender to the Refugee Action offices in Bradford where they will be allocated to each child and family by Refugee Action volunteers in time for Christmas.
Schools, churches and local businesses were involved with the appeal with students from All Saints’ Primary School and Skipton Girls’ High School buying and wrapping age-appropriate presents for children and adults and All Saints’ Church and St. John’s Church arranging collections with their congregations. The POPI Baby Bank in Keighley also donated gifts for 0-4 year olds.
In addition, Harrison Robinson Estate Agents in Ben Rhydding acted as a collection point for Ilkley residents to drop off their presents.
Felicity said:
“This has been a huge team effort over the past month, and once again I’m overwhelmed by the kindness of everyone in our local area. The volunteers at Refugee Action were visibly moved by the number of gifts we delivered to them, all so beautifully wrapped and labelled, as they know that every person they support will receive a gift this Christmas time.
“The impact a gift makes on the recipient should not be understated. To know that someone you may have never met cares about you and wants to make you feel like you belong and has gifted you something special is huge.
“I’d like to personally say a massive thank you to everyone who supported the appeal. Whether you promoted the collection to friends/neighbours, organised your school to donate, collected boxes, drove gifts to Bradford, acted as a drop off point or bought and wrapped a gift, you have made a difference to someone’s life through your positive actions.”
Amal Akasha, the Children and Families Project Manager for Refugee Action in Bradford said:
“Christmas is a particularly difficult time for many families we support who have had to flee war and persecution and endured unimaginable hardships, and for many of the children, this will be the only gift they receive.
“It means so much for the families to be shown this kindness and it is so much more than a gift; it shows that they are welcomed and in people’s thoughts and prayers. Thank you to Felicity and everyone who contributed to this appeal and thank you for caring.”