Shop staff at Dunelm have been left lost for words as children ask for basic items for Christmas as part of their charitable appeal this winter.
The home store has launched its annual Christmas appeal as the festive season approaches, in the hopes of delivering 'joy' this season - but its scheme has shed light on the reality of poverty for many children in the UK.
As the cost of living crisis continues to hit families across the country with soaring inflation rates, hiked energy bills and stagnant real wages, millions of parents will struggle to afford Christmas gifts for their children this year.
With a staggering 3.6 million children in poverty in the UK, Dunelm's Christmas appeal has shown just how difficult things are for many families, as the children's simple requests have left people in shock.
Dunelm's appeal involves putting up pre-written tags on a Christmas tree in stores that customers can take home, purchase and return with the selected gift before December 11, as the Liverpool Echo reports.
While most of us would expect children to ask for the toy that makes their eyes light up every time they see it on the telly, employees as Dunelm have been reduced to tears by the most commonly requested items.
The most wanted items amongst children and adults were a hat, scarves and gloves - while chocolate for children and toiletries for adults were also highly requested.
On the festive tags, one little boy under the age of 10 simply asked for a "hat and a biscuit please" and another boy under 12 heartbreakingly asked for "a teddy to hold in case Santa doesn't come to me."
Another little girl echoed the same devastating sentiment, as she requested a "selection box in case Santa doesn't come".
Adults also asked for similar items, as one requested a selection box while another asked for clean socks and toiletries.
Kelly Nichols, a staff member at the Dunelm branch in St Helens, Liverpool, shared the heart-wrenching requests on Facebook to show just how much families are struggling this year.
Sharing this year's appeal, she wrote on the post: "How are we in 2022, and facing this?!
"Help us to Deliver Joy this year to so many people who are facing a Christmas with absolutely nothing.
"If you'd like to donate, but can't get down to store & collect a tag, I'm happy to send you some via Messenger...simply deliver them to us, at your convenience, before Dec 11th".
Many people flooded to the comments section on Kelly's post desperate to offer help, with one writing: "I'll pop in at the weekend & collect a few tags absolutely heartbreaking".
Others were offering to bring gifts directly to stores that they already had purchased, with some even offering up cash.
After her first post gained traction on social media, Kelly shared a follow up message thanking people for their generosity.
She wrote: "I am completely lost for words at the generosity of every single member of this page.
"I have just sent out our 200th tag via Messenger, we have the most amazing ladies waiting to receive tags in bulk for their schools & businesses to fulfil AND we're down to single figures on the tree in-store
"We do have more tags on the way, but if you'd like to help now, please just buy a tin or packet of food from anywhere, and drop it into store.
There is more information on how you can donate gifts to children as part of Dunelm's appeal this year on the retailer's website.
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