Proud to help Faith in Families Compassionate Christmas Appeal

We are very proud to have been able to help local charity, Faith in Families, with its Compassionate Christmas Appeal, by donating £1,000 to help it give struggling parents a gift voucher to buy their child a Christmas present this year.

Our fundraising for the charity was co-ordinated by staff members, Jane Parker and Sarah Hendra, and £325 was raised in gift cards donated by our staff. Our Society then decided to more than match-fund the amount and bring it up to a grand total of £1,000.

Jane met with Faith in Families Chief Executive Officer, Cherrie Bija, to hand over gift vouchers for the amount, which the Faith in Families team will now distribute to parents struggling to buy Christmas presents for their children across the city.

Formed in 1999, Faith in Families has over two decades of experience helping families in a variety of ways, including its ongoing Inspiring Futures and Brighter Futures initiatives.

The charity works with over 500 families in Swansea across three Community Cwtch’s based in some of the city’s most deprived communities: Bonymaen, Clase and Portmead.

The charity’s Community Cwtch’s include playrooms, youth centres and cafés, and offer a programme of activities which appeal to all members of the family – with the aim of bringing the community together.

It also runs a wellbeing centre in Brecon, which serves as a community hub, supporting a variety of partners to deliver inter-generational services to the surrounding areas.

The charity targets those who lack motivation, ambition, and self-worth, and helps them develop a positive attitude. They do this by providing ways to increase skills and develop confidence and self-esteem; ultimately empowering individuals to make positive choices and break the cycle of poverty, raise aspirations, and support children, young people and adults to reach their full potential.

Cherie Baji, CEO, Faith in Families, said:

“We are overwhelmed by this large donation from our friends at Swansea Building Society. It has enabled us to help even more families share the joy and magic of Christmas by giving their children a gift – that they might not otherwise have had – this Christmas morning. Our sincerest thanks to everyone who has donated to our Compassionate Christmas Appeal.”

An anonymous father, helped by the appeal, added:

“You will never understand how much this means to me, and the help in general you have given means the world to me. This is fantastic, you are amazing, and you have made things much less hard for me. Thank you so much.”

Jane Parker, Area Manager Swansea & Neath Port Talbot, Swansea Building Society, said:

“We had a wonderful response from the staff donating to Faith in Families, and for the Society to make the total up to £1,000 was fantastic. It will make a huge difference to many struggling parents this Christmas, and it was a delight to be able to hand over so many gift vouchers to the team at Faith in Families, who do such important work tackling the issues of poverty across the communities of our city.”