I created the Coffee & Kin Christmas Shopping Night to help small businesses. Now, I'd really like to help children in the North East, but I need your help. 

Let's raise money for the Children's North East charity. If we all donate a little, it will amount to a lot! Together, we can make children from the North East smile, which is pretty amazing. 

This Christmas is likely to be a very different kind of Christmas for everybody. And sadly, for many in the North East, instead of it being a special time to look forward to, it will be just another cause for anxiety and stress.

Parents shouldn’t have to worry about how to put a meal on the table in the Christmas school holidays, but they are. They shouldn’t have to choose between heating their homes this festive season and feeding their little ones, yet they are.

The North East has seen the country’s biggest rise in child poverty since 2014. Almost a quarter (23.7 per cent) of children in the North-East now live in poverty before housing costs have been taken into account, up from 17.3 per cent just four years ago – that’s the biggest percentage rise in the country.

Together, we can raise some much needed funds for Children's North East charity and hopefully help as many children as possible smile this Christmas. 

Love and thanks to you all.

Ruth xx