Santa’s Little Stars Campaign 2024: A Community Coming Together
As festivities go on and Christmas only comes closer, we’re overwhelmed by the support for our Santa’s Little Stars campaign.
It’s truly magical to witness our community uniting to make Christmas special for children across Shropshire.
Incredible Generosity: By the Numbers
This year, the Santa’s Little Stars campaign exceeded all expectations. Thanks to the extraordinary support from our community:
We provided gifts to 582 children as well as 23 pregnant women.
We received over 2,000 donated gifts from individuals and companies.
We raised an incredible £2,309 in monetary donations, allowing us to fill any gaps and provide additional gifts for each child.
Finally due to this generosity we were able to gift even more to Star Housing in Oswestry, enabling them to include presents and colouring books in their Christmas food hampers for local families.
A Hub of Christmas Magic
At the heart of our efforts was our Christmas Hub, generously hosted by the Darwin Centre. This space became the bustling epicentre of our campaign, where gifts were sorted, wrapped, and prepared for distribution. The Darwin Centre’s continued support has been invaluable, and we’re so grateful for their partnership in making this possible.
Wrapping Days: Volunteers in Action
Our campaign was brought to life by the incredible efforts of our volunteers. Across two wrapping days, we were joined by around 15 volunteers each day who worked tirelessly to sort, wrap, label and double-check every gift. Many volunteers even went the extra mile, purchasing additional presents for age groups where we were running short.
Corporate volunteers from Aico, PwC, WSP, BT Group, Openreach, TCA Accountants, Lanyon Bowdler, and Shropshire Council brought energy and dedication, ensuring every gift was ready for collection. The atmosphere was one of teamwork and generosity, as everyone came together to make the campaign a success.
Leanne, our founder and CEO, shared her thoughts:
“This was our most successful year yet! The Hub was filled with Christmas spirit as our volunteer elves worked tirelessly to wrap the incredible number of donated presents. It was heartwarming to see passersby stopping and finding out more about our campaign and returning to donate additional presents. I cannot thank everyone enough for their support as it meant we were able to give each child multiple gifts this year.”
Special Mentions: Community Partners and Donors
The success of this campaign wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of so many companies and organisations. A heartfelt thank-you to those who organised collections and donated gifts, including:
Samuel Woods
SpaMedica
Pipekit
Croud
Aaron & Partners LLP
Mott MacDonald
Oxbow Manor Care Home
Severn Fields Medical Practice
Shropshire European Organisation
Aico
We’re also immensely grateful to everyone who contributed via our JustGiving page, including Aico, Practice Plan Limited, and Wesleyan.
Our Referral Partners: How it works
Each year we reach out to our valued referral partners to ask if children they are supporting would like to be a part of the campaign, many we support are the most vulnerable in our county and are likely to go without a gift at Christmas. The increasing number of children included in our Santa’s Little Stars campaign reflects the growing need within our community.
A Shared Achievement
This campaign’s success is a testament to the incredible kindness and generosity of our community. Whether you donated gifts, volunteered your time, or helped spread the word, each of you played a vital role in making this Christmas a little less stressful for so many families.
As we reflect on another extraordinary year, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this possible. Together, we’ve shown the power of community and the difference we can make when we come together.
From all of us at Little Stars, thank you for being part of something truly special.
