A leading charity is appealing for help from the public for their Govan-based project, ‘Help Keep Wee Govanites Cosy’, which aims to ensure that children in the area are able to stay warm this winter.
All donations will be used to make up 'winter warmer packs' which will be distributed to families in Greater Govan, Ibrox and Kingston.
The campaign is being run by the Govan Together for Childhood partnership, an NSPCC-led long-term project that works with other organisations and families to make the area a better place for children and to prevent abuse and neglect.
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The Winter Warmer campaign is being run as part of Govan Together for Childhood’s work in primary schools in Greater Govan, Ibrox and Kingston. Together for Childhood practitioners have been delivering Emotional Resilience sessions for primary pupils during the past year, after local feedback informed them that the pandemic had had a negative impact on many children’s emotional development and wellbeing.
Children and young people have been hit hard by a wide range of pressures sparked by the pandemic’s impact on education, social life and activities, and employment opportunities for parents and carers.
The cost-of-living crisis is expected to add to existing pressures for families, placing many of them under more stress, and impacting people’s mental wellbeing and family relationships.
Childline is already taking a number of calls from children and young people who are feeling anxious about how the increased cost-of-living will affect their family, and the number of calls they will receive on this topic is predicted to rise.
The partnership hopes the ‘Winter Warmer’ packs will give some practical help through the winter period by providing essential items to children.
Janet Weir, Development Support Officer at Govan ‘Together for Children’, said: “When we spoke with community members and our partners who support families, many of them were expressing worry about how they will keep warm over the winter.
“With 33% of children in Govan already living in poverty, we have recognised that the winter ahead maybe an extremely challenging and frightening time, for many of the children we already work with on our Emotional Resilience Programme.
“We wanted to do something to help and came up with this idea of making ‘Winter Warmer’ packs to distribute to as many families in the community as possible.
“We would like to collect enough donations to make 1,000 packs but we are relying on people’s donations to reach this goal, so we need everyone’s help to ‘Keep Wee Govanites Cosy this Winter’.”
Donations will be given to children who have been participating in the Emotional Resilience programme and are being taken from now until Monday, 14 November.
They are unable to accept second-hand items and are requesting that all donated items are new. You can help to support children this winter by donating new sets of the following items:
- Long sleeved pyjamas (4-11 years)
- Housecoat/dressing gowns (4-11 years)
- Thick socks (4-11 years)
- Small cosy blankets
- Hat, scarf and gloves
Items can be dropped off at Together for Childhood, Pavilion 2, Rowan Business Park, 5 Ardlaw Street, Glasgow, G51 3RR.
Any children who are registered for winter packs will be offered additional support from November 2022 until March 2023.
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