It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

It’s that time of year again… John Lewis has released their annual Christmas advert; Winter Wonderland is open for business; and Greggs has begun pouring their coffee into festive Christmas cups. Yes indeed! Nothing feels quite so Christmassy as a KFC Christmas Stuffing Burger™ (except maybe that Christmas Gravy Burger they did in 2021).

It really is a magical time of year. The leaves are more gold and plum than green, the pavements sparkle with diamanté frost, and even the cold can be forgiven because… well, it’s Christmas! It may be getting dark earlier, but that does mean that city streets are illuminated with festive, twinkling lights on the commute home. Hot drinks feel hotter, and Notes apps are bursting with Christmas lists for loved ones.

But more than anything else, the air feels electrified with excitement and love. Many of us will be looking forward to spending more quality time with those we care about this holiday season because, more than anything else, Christmas is about togetherness. It’s a time when we put others first and take stock of what is most important. Christmas is about love and joy and warmth in the face of icy, dismal weather. It’s about giving without expectation… We even let a certain jolly, bearded man take credit for all our good deeds!

A not so merry Christmas…

But Christmas can be a particularly difficult time of year for some families. We’re all feeling the cost-of-living crisis, but it has hit families living in poverty harder than anyone else.

“It’s a depressing time of year, to be honest. Sorry to be a bit bah-humbug, but it’s the truth… It doesn’t matter how much you budget – everything costs too much anyway!”
– an ATD Fourth World activist.

Independent food banks are struggling to cope with rising demands and falling donations. Inflated energy costs mean some families have to choose between heating and eating. And this year, four out of five households on Universal Credit are going without food and turning off their heating.

This year, skyrocketing bills have forced millions of households to  unplug their fridges or freezers . As a result, vulnerable families are compelled to risk getting sick from eating spoiled food.

In the midst of this cost-of-living crisis, families in the UK face mounting pressures. Despite this, ministers seek to drastically reduce help for low-income families, cut benefits, and phase out support payments. The result is not just a Christmas that doesn’t feel like Christmas: it’s a looming health crisis.

You can change this.

Now more than ever, your contribution means everything.

This Christmas, please consider donating to ATD Fourth World.

For the equivalent of 1 entry into Winter Wonderland (£5), you could reimburse the travel of one person living in poverty journeying to our center in Addington Square to take part in a well-being day.

For the equivalent of 1 Waitrose Christmas Pudding (£12.50), you could provide a roast dinner, with all the trimmings, for a mother and daughter living in poverty joining a convivial group in Addington Square.

For the equivalent of 1 bottle of brandy from Tesco (£23) bought to make a Christmas eggnog, you could cover the wages of two of our core team members running an hour-long Christmas-themed arts-and-crafts activity for children living in poverty.

And for the equivalent of a new Xbox Series X (£480) – which wouldn’t fit into a Christmas stocking anyway! – you could keep the heating on at Addington Square so families in extreme poverty have a safe, warm space to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and a chat with our volunteers this holiday season.

This year, make someone’s Christmas.

You can make sure a person living in poverty doesn’t spend the holiday season alone. Get into the spirit of giving, and be someone’s secret Santa.

To donate, please click here.