Hundreds of Fife youngsters could face a bleak Christmas as a charity revealed it is desperate for donations.
The Gift of Christmas Appeal Fife has received only a fraction of the donations it had been given by kind hearted members of the public at this time last year.
As the charity, which works to ensure every child in Fife has a present to open on Christmas morning, has more than 600 needy youngsters on its list, it fears many will be disappointed this festive season.
Katherine Hope said: “It’s not been very good, we are just not getting as many donations as last year.
“We have had very little so far and our warehouse is sitting here nearly empty.”
Katherine, along with other Freuchie mums Hilary Haman, Sarah Brown and Charlotte Lever, stepped in last year to establish the appeal following the demise of Fife’s Spirit of Christmas project which closed after two highly successful years.
In its first year it gave out around 1,300 gift bags to Fife children, thanks to the generosity of Fifers, who might otherwise not had a present from Santa on Christmas morning.
While the list of children is smaller this year, that is only because the charity has re-organised its system as last time several agencies may have referred the same youngster.
Despite that, hundreds could go without as the goodies have only trickled in in small quantities to the appeal, which has 10,000 Facebook followers.
There are 50 drop-off points around the kingdom, but, according to Katherine “they are saying they do not have a lot”.
While she is hopeful donations may still come in from organisations and companies collecting for the appeal, she warned many youngsters might face disappointment.
“I am not sure why. Perhaps people are tightening their belts, I know I am trying to.
“Everything — food, gas, electricity — is more expensive and I am assuming that might be why.
“I know about Universal Credit and the problems that is causing and that may be another reason.
“A lot of donations are given to us by people who aren’t rich.
“They are ordinary people who do not necessarily have a lot themselves and are still donating.
“But if they are being affected by Universal Credit they won’t be able to afford it.”
The deadline for dropping off gifts is Saturday December 16 so time is running out.
To help and for information about drop-off points and donations visit https://giftofchristmas.wixsite.com/appealfife or https://www.facebook.com/GiftOfChristmasAppealFIFE/.
