Christmas Joy Campaign 2022

Over the past two years, we have successfully run campaigns to raise money to make and deliver Hampers to those who needed a little help at Christmas.

The response from the community has been overwhelming. With your help we have raised over £10,000 in total, and working with our friends at St Mary’s Church, have made and delivered over 240 hampers to families in the local area.

We have even able to use surplus funds to provide additional help to vulnerable families over the winter months, partnering with local community projects and businesses to ensure those who really needed help got it quickly.

But by now it is clear to everyone that this winter will probably be the hardest many of us have felt in our lifetimes.

Families are contending with ever increasing prices, mounting heating bills, and general uncertainty over job security.

Christmas is usually the best time of year for many of us, but for a sizeable number it is looking like a scary time.

We at Bridport Round Table want to help make it a little less scary again. And this year we want to do more than ever before…

We are again looking to raise enough money to distribute 120 Christmas Hampers to families in need in the Bridport and Beaminster area.

As before, these will not be emergency food parcels – our friends at Cupboard Love and Beaminster food bank will continue to supply these to those who need them.

Rather, our Christmas Hampers are intended to ensure that every family that received one has all the necessary ingredients to enjoy a traditional family Christmas.

The Hampers will contain enough food for a full Christmas dinner and more for a family of four: they will contain a Turkey, and all the trimmings, all fresh and locally sourced; they will contain cheese, biscuits and chutney; Christmas pudding, and yule log. Finally, they will also contain enough sweets and chocolates to comfortably last the Christmas period! 

For those families who receive a Hamper, this will mean one less thing to worry about. But we want to do more this year!

Our campaign will also look to raise money to fund more support for people through the cost-of-living crisis this winter. This will include:

• Donating money to local spaces setting themselves up as warm spaces this winter, for local people to congregate in knowing that that the heating will be on, and a cup of tea available
• Providing food vouchers to vulnerable families over January and February, all from local butchers and greengrocers
• Providing a dedicated pot of money for emergency requests from either local people who need help, or for community workers to access should they spot signs of distress

Our goal this year is to help as many people as possible, and therefore our target is higher than it has been.

We want to raise £10,000, which would give us enough to make and deliver all 120 hampers, AND have enough money to make a meaningful impact to the community during these difficult months. 

This sounds an awful lot to raise. But this year for the first time Crowdfunder are helping us significantly in two ways that matter:

• Firstly, they are connecting us to their match funding partners, amplifying every donation you make by adding corporate funds to the pot
• Secondly, you can now donate any unwanted Nectar points that you may have, which Crowdfunder will convert to pounds and pence and add to our total!

So what does this mean?

It means for every pound you donate, Crowdfunder will at least double it, meaning your donation will go much further than it has done before!

And it also means that if you are short on money, but have some nectar points, then you can still make an impact to our total!

Added to our ability to obtain gift aid from the government, and we are incredibly well placed to meet are target.

So please be as generous as you can, and help us get as much money as possible into the town and the surrounding areas to help those who need it most.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. At this really difficult time we know that those who can help, will help. 

This is a special area, with people who have gone above and beyond over the past months and years to support their friends and neighbours when they have needed it the most. 

Your donation will help us continue that great work.

"We are so grateful for the efforts Bridport Round Table are going to to support us in providing a safe, warm space for the most vulnerable in our community. Without their help we would really struggle to make this work, so a huge thank you to them and to everyone who has donated" Reverend Deb Smith, St Marys Church, Bridport