get involved support our work
Christmas at Community Links
Community Links invites all our supporters to join us this Christmas in changing lives for the better! Each year Community Links reaches out to thousands of children, families and vulnerable adults at Christmas. In an area where 58% of children live in poverty, Christmas can be a time of stress and isolation. Community Links looks to strengthen communities and raise aspirations at this festive time, making Christmas special and futures brighter.
This webpage will be updated by October 2010, but do look below to find out what we did last year.
Download our Christmas Brochure and see how you can make a tangible difference to the lives of others not just at this special time, but throughout the coming year. Simply select which activities you’d like to get involved with, including our Santa Run, Toy Appeal, Secret Santa, Quiz nights or children's parties!
You can also download posters to help you promote the Toy Appeal or Santa Run and click here for a full list of ideas for your own festive fundraising events.
if you would like to discuss your company’s programme of activities in advance please do contact us…
Events Manager – emma.taylor@community-links.org
Corporate Partners Manager – anna.mothes@community-links.org
Volunteer Co-ordinator – trishna.shah@community-links.org
We welcome you to join Community Links at Christmas...
Santa Fun Run - 10am Sunday 6 December
Join the festive extravaganza in the Santa Fun Run and help raise funds for Community Links Christmas Appeal. The 5k run will take place at Greenwich Park one of the largest parks in London and a wonderful setting. Santa Suits and mince pies are provided! No previous experience is required for this run and with a bit of training the 5km distance should easily be within your capabilities. The spirit of the event is 'taking part' not 'winning' so you can run, jog or walk - you decide! Please download Santa Run Posters to promote this event at your work. To find out more and to register your place please click here. Places are limited, book now!
Toy Appeal for Children and Young People
In the run up to Christmas please consider organising a gift collection around your company Christmas tree for disadvantaged
children in east London. The Community Links Christmas Appeal aims to provide a bag of gifts to open on Christmas morning for children who are referred by a unique combination of East London’s caring agencies and family support groups, ensuring that the Appeal helps those most in need at Christmas. The children are from deprived homes where they are experiencing a multitude of difficulties including family breakdown, violence and abuse.
The Appeal aims to provide disadvantaged children with gifts which are appropriate for their age and needs. Children range in age from 3 months to 14 years. Please try to buy gifts that have both play and educational value to the child and please do not buy war toys or toys that promote violence. Try to buy gifts that have the Lion Mark CE to show they are child friendly and safe for use by children within the specific age groups given. You can download suggsted promotional posters for your offices here.
Once toys have been collected internally, please download the Christmas Appeal Delivery form and fax (on 020 7473 6671) or email ruth.uwimana@community-links.org. Then deliver your gifts along, with a copy of the form, to the attention of Paula Blake, TJM Management, East Ham Industrial Estate, 1000 Newham Way (the A13), London, E6 5JN, between 10am and 5pm from Monday 30th November to Friday 18th December. This year we have been kindly donated a warehouse to help us sort gifts, please do not deliver toys to Community Links, call Paula on 07957298058 if you need help to find the warehouse.
Secret Santa Wish Lists for Our Centres
Children and young people from across our projects have prepared Secret Santa Wish Lists of items they would love to have for their centres including arts and crafts supplies, movies, sports equipment and video games. Participating companies will be paired up with one or more of our centres to collect the gifts that the children have requested from Santa. After the collection is complete, you can deliver the gifts in-person to the centre, giving you the opportunity to see for yourself the excitement in the eyes of the children and young people. If you are interested in being matched with a centre or two this Christmas, please contact Trishna Shah on 020 7473 9686/ trishna.shah@community-links.org to receive a Secret Santa Wish List from the kids.
Support Disadvantaged Families
Community Links also welcomes gifts for families over Christmas. Our Advice team regularly works with vulnerable people and at Christmas our staff deliver food hampers and presents to those most in need. We’d love to receive donations for our hampers, such as food vouchers, which would allow a family to buy their own turkey this year, as well as biscuits, cakes, teas, edible treats, board games, or cinema vouchers.
Once gifts have been collected internally, please download the Christmas Appeal Delivery form and fax (on 020 7473 9661) or email kay.rendell@community-links.org. Then deliver your gifts along, with a copy of the form, to Kay Rendell at Community Links, 105 Barking Rd, Canning Town, E16 4HQ by Monday 14 December.
Festive Fundraising
Funds as well as gifts help to make our Christmas Appeal a success
Why not consider making Community Links the beneficiary of a collection, raffle or auction at your Christmas party? Any monies raised will provide a valuable boost to our work at this vital time – funding items such as further toys and games, food parcels, trips to the pantomime and children’s parties, as well as supporting our open access play schemes over the year to follow, providing a safe haven and inspirational activities for children. Download a full pack of festive fundraising event ideas or contact emma.taylor@community-links.org if you would like a ‘How to Run a Christmas Quiz Night’ pack, complete with questions for you to use.
Do your festive fundraising before 7th December and you can donate online that day via the Big Give. All donations (up to a grand total of £40,000) made here will be doubled! Yes unbelievably true, it must be Santa at work!
Christmas Challenge Quiz
Thursday 3rd December 7pm for 7.30 start
Why not get a team together to compete for the coveted ‘Challenge Shield’ and bottles of wine in the annual Newham Recorder quiz evening? The battle of the brains takes place at Community Links, 105 Barking Road, Canning Town, E16 4HQ, just a few minutes away from Canning Town station. A killer quiz is devised by our devious quiz master and co-founder Kevin Jenkins and guests are welcome to bring drinks and snacks. Each table seats up to 8 team members and costs just £60 – every penny of which goes to our Christmas appeal as staff volunteer their time to make this a great evening. To book your table, just email jackie.south@community-links.org with your contact details and team name by Monday 23rd November.
Christmas Volunteering Opportunities
Volunteering with Children
Get your team involved this Christmas by volunteering to sponsor and host a Christmas party for disadvantaged children. Volunteers will have the opportunity to decorate, set-up for the party, prepare lunch and refreshments for the children and join the children for some fun games, entertainment and a visit from Father Christmas.
You can also get your team involved in decorating one of our centres for the holidays! Volunteers will have the opportunity to come along in the morning to transform one of our many children and young people’s centres with some festive fun decorations, put up holiday displays and create arts and crafts activities for the holiday season. If you’re up for it, you can stay and host a Christmas party for the children and young people at that centre in the afternoon, or you can get back to the office if you can’t stay for the full day.
Volunteering with the Elderly
Volunteer your time to sponsor and host a Christmas Party for our Pensioner’s Club! Spend the morning setting up for the party,
decorating, preparing food and drinks and getting into the groove for the afternoon festivities. Then host the pensioners throughout the afternoon by serving a festive lunch and joining them on the dance floor as they sing and dance to their favourite holiday tunes. This year’s party is scheduled for Wednesday, December 9th and this is a popular event, so be sure to sign up soon if you are interested in helping us to make Christmas special for our Pensioners!
Spread the Christmas Spirit!
We invite volunteers to join us at Broadgate Circle and other London venues to collect donations of toys and funds for the Community Links Christmas Appeal to support disadvantaged families from East London. Throughout the day, you can volunteer your time to join our team in collecting toys and funds near our Toy Van and collecting funds for the Christmas Appeal. Volunteers can sign-up to help with collections for the Christmas Appeal from 7:00am-8:15am, 8:15-9:30am, 12:00pm-1:15pm, 1:15pm-2:30pm, 4:30pm-5:30 and 5:30-6:30pm.
To volunteer your time with Community Links this Christmas, please contact Trishna Shah, our Corporate Volunteering Co-ordinator on trishna.shah@community-links.org