The spirit of Christmas comes in the form of giving.
And Paisley charity staff members will be happily putting their festive plans on hold as they look to be keeping vital services running on Christmas Day.
Barry Hicks – a children’s youth care worker (CYCW) with kids’ care and education organisation Kibble – will be spending tomorrow with young people.
Both he and his colleagues across Kibble will be going above and beyond to ensure the youngsters in their care have a magical day – with festive spirit sprinkled on every activity.
However, the role of the CYCW starts much earlier in the festive period as the team helps young people handle the emotions Christmas Day can bring.
Barry and the colleagues begin preparing young people for spending time with their families at home as they may need additional emotional support and coping tools.
Speaking about why he chooses to work Christmas Day, Barry said: “For many young people, Christmas can be a very emotional time and so our work to prepare starts at least six weeks in advance of Christmas Day itself.
“In addition to the day-to-day role we play in the lives of the young people – which includes support, guidance and mentoring – we start preparing young people for the emotional side of Christmas, as well as providing them with coping mechanisms for the expectations that Christmas brings.”
Barry has worked with Kibble for two years.
He started his career with the organisation’s staff-in-training programme which is designed to support new recruits in the care sector achieve vocational qualifications while also earning a full-time working salary.
He explained: “Our role on the day itself is two-fold. Firstly, for the children visiting their families, we want to ensure they know support is still there for them and we are looking forward to welcoming them back.
“Secondly, for the young people who remain with us, we want to make Christmas as magical and enjoyable experience as possible.
“We will be pulling out all the stops for the kids with all of the Christmas traditions many of us have grown to love and cherish – presents from Santa, a lovely Christmas dinner and time to relax and enjoy a Christmas film or two at the end of the day.”
Barry has a young family of his own – so working Christmas Day comes with significant sacrifice.
He added: “I love Christmas with my own family, there’s nothing better than seeing my children ripping into their gifts on Christmas morning. But I’m also aware that my children have a loving family, there to support them all year round.
“For the young people at Kibble, this isn’t always the case and Christmas Day is a significant day of the year to show our commitment to them and provide a Christmas that they might never have experienced before.”
Kibble provides care, support and education services to young people who have experienced significant trauma in their lives.
For further information, you can visit www.kibble.org
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