Since 2016 we have provided special Christmas gifts for children and young people who are inpatients in child and adolescent mental health (CAMHS) wards across the UK over the festive period.
These young people will be experiencing one of the most challenging times in their lives, and they absolutely deserve to feel special, remembered and included during the holiday season. This year, with your help, we're hoping to give a gift to every single young person who needs a gift who is in inpatient mental health care at Christmas - as well as a special gift, activities, homemade cards, sensory toys and decorations for every ward too.
Last year we were able to send almost 1500 individual gifts to young people experiencing a really difficult Christmas as in inpatient, as well as a ward gift, decorations and an advent calendar to 136 CAMHS wards across the UK. With your help, we will be able to do the same this year too.
"I just wanted to send a message to say a massive thank you for the Christmas presents! I am currently a patient at [name of CAMHS ward] and had no leave for Christmas so was stuck inside not feeling very christmassy but when receiving the presents it really put a smile on my face and added something special to the day! Thank you for what you do for all of us I appreciate it! I had never heard of this charity until yesterday but I think your all doing an amazing job"
Christmas For CAMHS was originally set up because volunteers saw a huge disparity in the way CAMHS units were treated over the festive period compared to other NHS services for children and young people. We wanted to do something to change that.
Children are admitted to CAMHS units to receive support and treatment for mental health issues, such as psychosis or depression, or eating disorders like anorexia. There are no official figures for how many children will spend the festive season in CAMHS units across the UK. While many members of the public and corporate donors give Christmas gifts to children's hospitals or children's wards in general hospitals, CAMHS units, which are usually based away from other services, are often forgotten, or not known about.
The gifts for the young people make a huge difference to their mood, confidence and wellbeing. Especially those young people who are unable to spend Christmas at home, young people from deprived backgrounds and those who are known to social care - the gifts make a significant difference to them.
"Thank you to all of you for your efforts, we had a member of staff dress as Santa and delivered the gifts. All of these were well received and all have been used, nothing left untouched which is a good sign! Gifts like these help improve the atmosphere on the ward at a difficult time of year and has a positive affect on staff and most importantly the young people. It is a reminder that people care and want to help."
The best way to help us, if you can, is to make a donation so our volunteer elves can get busy with buying and assembling gifts to whizz them across to CAMHS units across the country. Every single donation is important to us and we hugely appreciate your support in making the christmassy magic happen!
If you'd prefer, you can choose your own gift for us for our elves to deliver to a CAMHS unit via our Amazon Wish List.
Want to do more? Why not become one of our extra special fundraising elves! You could have a sponsored carol sing or gingerbread house bake-off - or something as simple as a collection at the end of a concert or school play or hosting a festive cake sale. Feel free to get in touch and tell us about your fundraising plans!
Another fantastic way to help is by spreading the word about what we are doing. Retweet us on twitter, share about our charity on facebook or chat about our charity in your instagram stories (you can find our instagram here). Or just tell your colleagues about us over tea break! The possibilities are endless...
Christmas for CAMHS provide an amazing service that goes far beyond the box of gifts that arrive. The generosity of Christmas for CAMHS provides a bit of joy and excitement for our young people during a particularly challenging time of the year. In particular for our eating disorder young people, Christmas time can be very food based and quite distressing. So to have gifts and activities that are Christmassy but without being foody means that they can feel included in the festive period and have things to enjoy.
Click here to visit our website - or give us a follow on social media. You can also drop us an email if you fancy (info@christmasforcamhs.org.uk) or join our mailing list.
Christmas For CAMHS is a registered charity: 1190353
We are hugely appreciative of the support from your charity. You do brilliant valuable work that can make a huge difference to our young people
* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.
