MHA Christmas Appeal 2024: Spreading Joy and Hope Across Monmouthshire

This year, the Monmouthshire Housing Association Christmas Appeal achieved incredible results as we supported a record number of families and children. With 170 children referred to the appeal, the generosity of our community and the hard work of our team has made a real difference.

Thanks to your amazing donations, this year we raised an incredible £4688 and we were able to provide each child with a £30 gift card, allowing the families to select gifts that truly suited their children’s needs. On top of this, we were delighted to receive an £8,500 donation of toys and gifts from the Cash for Kids, Mission Christmas Appeal, ensuring each child also received an additional £50 worth of gifts.

Through partnerships with Monmouth Food Bank, The Gateway Church Abergavenny, Caldicot Food Bank, and food parcels created by MHA, we provided 97 food parcels totalling a value of £6800 to families in need. These packages offered vital support to households during a particularly challenging time, ensuring no one went without over the festive season.

This year’s appeal involved tremendous effort from our dedicated team and 31 volunteers, who worked tirelessly to:

• Sort transport, package up and sort toys, ensure every child received age-appropriate gifts.
• Organise and distribute gift cards to families across Monmouthshire.
• Create a brand-new donation system, making it easier for our supporters to contribute.
• Design and deliver a full marketing campaign, raising awareness of the appeal and inspiring the community to take part.

The appeal would not have been possible without our army of volunteers and the dedication of our Financial Wellbeing Officers. They went above and beyond, driving vans to collect the enormous donation from Mission Christmas, creating food parcels , and ensuring every detail was taken care of. Their efforts behind the scenes were vital to the success of the appeal.

We were excited to launch our first-ever Elf Trail with seven local businesses participating to help spread the word. A special shout out goes to the Estro Lounge in Monmouth, whose innovation Gift Card Tree encouraged customers to select a denomination and replace it with a gift card. This thoughtful twist on the trail captured the festive spirit and inspired a wave of generosity.

We are incredibly grateful for the extraordinary contributions we received this year, including a £2,250 donation from our regular anonymous donors in Bristol and significant support from our contractors.

• AP Water Building – £500
• DT Contracting (South West) LTD – £500
• KRL Services – £250
• Glanmor Developments LTD – £200
• Harper Group – £100
• Days Rentals – £100
• IDM – £75
• Nationwide Building – £50
• Careium – £50