With many people worrying about increased bills and the cost-of-living crisis, especially over the long winter months, these leading local charities want to help make Christmas a little easier for those who are struggling the most.  As both The Junction and Footprints in the Community are privileged to be the chosen charities of the current Redcar and Cleveland Mayor, they are coming together for this joint Christmas campaign, in the hope of reaching even more people in the local area.

Footprints in the Community started in 2011 and now run a number of projects from their offices at 10 Queen Street in Redcar, each of which aims to reduce poverty and isolation and improve health and wellbeing, in Redcar and the surrounding area. 

The Junction, a respected local child, young people and families charity, has been supporting children and families in need since the 1990’s across the Tees Valley. The Junction’s services include Young Carers, Children and Young People’s Mental Health, Youth Employment, and Youth Services operational across South Tees.

If you would like to help Footprints and The Junction support local people in need, donations of new and unwrapped toys and gifts, warm items (such as new hats, gloves and blankets), non-perishable food and toiletries are needed now more than ever. 

There are donation points at:

• Footprints in the Community offices – 10 Queen Street, Redcar during office hours.
• The Junction – Westfield Farm, Dormanstown
• My Place – North Street, Middlesbrough
• Footprints Warehouse, Dormanstown – large donations, by prior arrangement (please contact 01642 484842)

Please drop off any donations by 8 December 2023, to give enough time for the items to be gifted on through the charities’ projects.

Monetary donations are always appreciated as they allow items that are most needed to be purchased on your behalf.  Please see the charities’ websites for details on how to make a monetary donation.

Beth Major, CEO from The Junction said “We support over 3000 individuals a year, the majority of whom have additional challenges, and increasingly one of them is poverty, with over 40% of local children and young people experiencing this as a normalised part of childhood. We are pleased to be working with Footprints in the Community to ensure as many local families and individuals do not need to struggle over the festive period – together we can achieve more”.

Ruth Fox, CEO of Footprints in the Community said, “We want to thank the public for their generous support, as we know that these are difficult times for everyone. We have found an increasing number of local people are coming to us for help and we are expecting this demand to grow over the coming Christmas and Winter period. Your generous donations of toys, food and toiletries are vital to allow us to continue helping people in crisis in the Redcar area.”

You can find out more about the work of Footprints in the Community at www.footprintsinthecommunity.co.uk and The Junction at www.thejunctionfoundation.com.

Pictured: Beth Major (CEO), The Junction and Helen Hedges (Foodbank Manager), Footprints in the Co