Heartbreaking festive wishes for "clean clothes" or simply "anything" for Christmas led bar staff at a Northumberland pub to break down in tears as its Christmas present scheme for those in need revealed the scale of the cost-of-living crisis.
The Percy Arms in Chatton, near Wooler, is part of the Christmas for All community organisation. Youngsters are invited to share their Christmas wishes, which staff then write on tags that are placed on the pub's Christmas tree. Punters at the pub are then invited to choose a gift tag and make it come true.
But amid the financial strain many are facing, lots of the children and young people who have left their wishes have made devastating requests. Staff were stunned by some of the things they read. One 15-year-old girl wrote: "A present for my dad. He’s sad since my mum died and not in a good place."
Meanwhile, an eight-year-old girl wrote: “Clean clothes, please. Mine are dirty." And a six-year-old's tag said: "Something to make with mammy." A 17-year-old boy's note, written on his behalf, said simply: "Anything, as he’s used to getting nothing."
Staff at the Percy Arms are hopeful kind customers will help it fulfil the Christmas dreams of the children. Organiser Oliver Bennet said the children’s requests “had shaken each and every one of us to the core".
He added: "You can read about hardship and food banks and poverty. But to see, written down in black and white, young children asking simply for some clean clothes for Christmas – well, that really hits you.
"And many of them – despite having so little themselves – put others’ happiness before their own. That’s the real spirit of Christmas isn’t it – and it’s heartbreaking that it’s taking children to remind us of that."
In total, Christmas for All is looking for gifts for around 2,000 children in south east Northumberland alone, some of whom have been referred to them by other organisations or local authorities and others who have been self-referred.
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