Skip Secret Santa to Support Social Care

One of Britain’s biggest social care charities, Community Integrated Care, is asking people to break the tradition of buying deliberately tacky Secret Santa gifts in this year of national crisis. Their ‘No Secret Santa, Secret Santa’ campaign asks people to donate the money they would have spent on trivial gifts for friends and families to instead help people who are impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic in social care.

The charity has launched a new project where people can donate the money they would have spent on Secret Santa presents to their ‘Christmas Cares Fund’. This aims to give people who have care and support needs the most memorable Christmas possible and to purchase gifts for those without active families in their lives.

In exchange, the charity will send a card or branded email to the individual or the person they are making the donation on behalf of, letting them know exactly how their donation made a difference. In doing so, it means that people can have the exciting surprise of a Secret Santa, with the satisfaction of knowing that their money made a real difference.

Donations can be made at www.NoSecretSanta.co.uk. They are suggested to start at £10 per person, but in these challenging times people are just encouraged to give what they feel they can – be that a smaller or larger amount.

Every penny will be used to give thousands of people who have care and support needs the best Christmas possible at this tough time.

The money raised from this campaign will purchase Christmas presents for people supported by the charity who do not have active families in their lives, meaning that everyone gets a meaningful gift. It will also fund a range of seasonal activities for the people it supports across the UK to enjoy – from virtual Santa visits to Christmas cookery classes, and even hosting their own Christmas mass and carol service.

Mark Adams, CEO of Community Integrated Care, says: “In tough times like these, we need to re-evaluate the tradition of buying deliberately tacky gifts for our friends and colleagues. In a year where people are struggling on many fronts, buying gifts that are immediately destined for the bin seems out of touch.

With our ‘No Secret Santa, Secret Santa’ campaign, we’re giving people the chance to give people an exciting surprise and make a real difference. With lock-own and restrictions meaning that the people we support will have far less access to enjoy a normal Christmas in their community this year, this seasonal support has never been more vital.”