Formerly homeless residents living at our YMCA supported housing across Nottinghamshire are set to benefit from a series of fundraising events which generated £422 in Christmas gifts this festive season!
As most of us return to our families and loved ones to celebrate this Christmas, many of our charity’s residents do not have a support network to make them smile and feel loved during these harshest winter months.
We are delighted to confirm that Nottinghamshire YMCA’s campaign to generate Christmas gift donations translated into 210 new presents to help ensure our YMCA residents have a thoughtful gift to open on Christmas Day – with donations still coming in!
Gift Wrapping Staff Volunteer Day
On Monday 16 December, YMCA staff members sportingly joined together at the Malt Cross’ downstairs workshop space for a Staff Volunteer Day, which saw the gifts wrapped, bowed and labelled to bring together months of hard work and fundraising efforts for our community’s most vulnerable members.
Enormous thanks goes out to our generous-hearted community supporters who kindly contributed to this appeal; whether by donating presents, cash or volunteering their time to wrap and label gifts and promote the cause on social media.
Nottinghamshire YMCA’s Housing team is especially grateful to our partner charity, the Malt Cross, which served as a gift donation hub for community contributions. The bar and restaurant’s month-long appeal generated a fantastic £215 in cash donations plus countless bags of new items for our residents to enjoy over Christmas.
YMCA Gym members and supporters also found their festive sparkle as they pounded the gym’s performance studio dance-floor during this year’s annual Zumbathon to generate vital funds for the cause. The gym’s over 60s ‘Forever Fit’ class kicked off the day, which ran from 10am-8pm on Wednesday 11 December and raised £90 for this Christmas campaign.
We would also like to say a big ‘thank you’ to The Playwright venue on Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, for choosing to support our charity and raising £117 through the pub’s annual Festival 38 fundraiser in October 2019.
‘First ever Christmas present’ 
During the gift wrapping event, Eleanor Guerin, Lead Social Worker at Nottinghamshire YMCA’s Nottingham city centre hostel, said: “I gave a present to one of our adult residents who advised it was the first Christmas present he had ever been given. It’s moments like that which make you realise the significant impact even a small token gesture can have for boosting a person’s sense of self-worth.
“I would strongly urge anyone wanting to do something selfless at Christmas-time to support this appeal as even the smallest gift can make a big positive change to a vulnerable person’s life.”
We are still warmly accepting gift donations at the Malt Cross, on St James’ Street, or drop-offs at our Nottinghamshire YMCA housing service at 4 Shakespeare Street.
Thank you to everyone who has donated and supported this campaign so far!