Released today on Together for Children’s website:
Staff at Together for Children have raised £925 and have partnered with Hopespring to provide food hampers to care experienced young people this Christmas.
Together for Children, which delivers children’s services on behalf of Sunderland City Council, employs around 800 staff that support children, families and education settings across Sunderland.
Hopespring, a charity that works throughout Tyne and Wear has created hampers for young people leaving care for the past three years. This year volunteers from the charity visited local supermarkets to collect donated food items and toiletries from local shoppers.
Together for Children’s Next Steps service work with young people living in care from age 16 to provide practical help and advice around housing, further education, employment and budget management as they prepare for independent living.
Peter Wyatt, Finance Manager at Hopespring accepted the donation from Steve Renwick, Director of Finance at Together for Children and said: “Young people leaving care without a job have only around £21 a week to spend on food, drink and transport after bills.
“Our hampers include all the basics that a person needs to make meals for a few weeks, which helps them to settle into new accommodation. This year we hope to provide 60 hampers to care leavers and we are delighted with this kind donation.”
Jill Colbert, Chief Executive of Together for Children, said: “Our staff support a variety of causes throughout the year. This fundraising drive was prompted by the young people we support who told us that they often miss out on the little treats that others tend to take for granted, so we’re happy to be enabling Hopespring to add a few small luxuries such as hot chocolate, biscuits and other festive treats at this special time of year.”
The original press release can be read on Together for Children’s website here.