Gifts for Children

Today was our Annual Gift Service. For several years St Paul’s has had contact with homes containing children who can look forward to a bleak Christmas. These include homes for vulnerable adults and battered wives, who often have children with them. We currently have contact with five such homes, which expect 65 children by Christmas. Because of the nature of their work, we are unable to name them. Our concern is to provide some joy for the children in these homes at Christmas time.

One of the charities responsible for some of these homes is Action Homeless. Although they cannot name their homes, they describe their work as follows: “Action Homeless has been helping people and families affected by homelessness for over 40 years. Based in the heart of Leicester, we are committed to supporting people of all ages who are at risk of or facing homelessness in our local community. Quite simply, we provide people with homes whilst helping them to develop the skills and the means necessary to leave homelessness behind for good.”

At St Paul’s, a few weeks in advance, we give out gift tags to the congregation with the age and sex of each of the 65 children concerned. All the gift tags were taken and appropriate gifts bought and wrapped. The gifts were brought up at the Annual Gift Service today.

There was also an opportunity to give unwrapped gifts, a mixture of essential clothes and luxuries to the Welcome Project, for asylum seekers, run at St Martin’s house in central Leicester.

We received very generous gifts towards both these causes.
May the gifts bring joy at Christmas time when we celebrate the gift of Jesus, the gift above all others.