More than 1,000 children will wake up with gifts under their tree on Christmas Day after an unprecedented £30,000 donation from Leeds United. The five-figure boost has transformed the landscape at Leeds-based radio station Pulse 1, where 2022’s Mission Christmas was proving the hardest in recent memory.
The children’s charity Cash for Kids makes a festive push every year through its radio stations, but Lisa Sullivan, the charity manager at Pulse, found the cost of living crisis was biting hard. Fewer donations were being made this year, volunteers were being kept at home with no gifts on the shelves to sort.
More and more disadvantaged children were facing the prospect of a giftless Christmas morning until a conversation with United sparked this month’s push into action. First there was news of an open training session for fundraising at Elland Road and then this morning jaws hit the floor when the donation landed.
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“We were told very, very, very, very recently, as in just in the last 12 hours, about this wonderful donation and it is just absolutely out of this world,” Lisa told LeedsLive. “It really is amazing. It means so much to our challenge.
“Thirty thousand pounds to us is absolutely amazing. It's an outstanding amount of money. It means the world to us and to the children we'll be supporting with this money.”
In the nine years Lisa has worked with the charity she has never seen such one single donation as big as today’s from the Whites. She said: “I've been doing this job for nine years and it’s highest the donation I’ve seen.
“For it to come from the players and the staff really shows they care about the local community. They don’t distance themselves from what’s happening in real life.
“They are very, very close to what goes on. I’ve been speaking to James [Mooney, head of communications] at Leeds and telling him it’s the toughest year ever and they’ve reacted straight away.”
Lisa works with wholesalers to buy presents at the lowest prices in order to ensure more and more children see a haul of gifts they could have never expected on December 25. She says it’s the local angle which inspires Leeds.
“The reason it resonates and means so much to the whole team is we are local,” she said. “Nobody wants to think of a child without a gift on Christmas Day. That is just heartbreaking.
“There are tonnes and tonnes of amazing causes out there, there really are, and I feel so honoured they continue to choose and support us. It's down to the fact we know firsthand, with the feedback we get, what a difference Mission Christmas means to these families.”
United’s chief executive Angus Kinnear said: “Following a catch-up with Lisa and the team at Mission Christmas last week, it was clear this year’s toy drive has been harder than previous years due to the cost of living crisis.
“After being briefed on the matter by our head of communications, both Liam Cooper and Luke Ayling spoke to Jesse Marsch and the squad, who all agreed to make the donation. While being in the Premier League does give us a global platform, I am proud we continue to put our local community first.”
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