It’s only one day but what if you had nothing to look forward to over the Christmas period?

A lot of us might think of the elderly living alone, no-one to make their Christmas a special event but there are many people for whom Christmas can be a painful time. We may not give a passing thought to younger members of society yet many of them will be dreading Christmas too. And if it wasn’t for something that popped up on my Facebook feed I might still be guilty of that.

Facebook might be littered with photographs of what people had for dinner, indulgent cakes, cheesy cartoons and cute dogs – but now and then, among all the dross, something will catch your eye, as a friend’s Facebook post did mine. How would I like to be a Secret Santa? All I had to do was follow the link  to Amazon, choose a pressie and click. Simple yet stunning and I felt I had to share.

There are many young people leaving care, who may be living in B & Bs, bedsits, sleeping the streets or on friend’s sofas and many of them will be dreading Christmas. Lemn Sissay, award-winning official poet of London Olympics 2012 knows how that feels. He was a care leaver himself and he came up with this wonderful idea to make sure that those who are in a similar position have a fantastic Christmas.

Behold The Christmas Dinner  One big Christmas party when they can relax, have fun and be given gifts – this is where the Secret Santa comes in. A festive day for care leavers (those who are 18 – 25 who have been looked after by local authorities away from the home for at least thirteen weeks since the age of fourteen, as well as those with a background in care within the home).

The Christmas Dinner started in Manchester in 2013 but this year there will be similar events in Hackney, Leeds and Oxford.

I spoke with Jill Ambrazitis, who is organising The Christmas Dinner in Leeds to find out more about event and how to get involved.

How many people in the team to bring this sort of event to fruition?

The steering committee for the Leeds event comprised approximately 20 people.  We will also have additional volunteers assisting with set-up on Christmas Eve, more on Christmas Day to help with the actual event and then a further group on Boxing Day to assist with clear-up etc.

How many young people will receive gifts this year?

We anticipate that there will be 50 care leavers attending our event this year, all of whom will receive gifts.

Who devised the list, accepts delivery, wraps the presents etc?

Lemn suggested that we set up an Amazon wish list, (we believe Manchester and Hackney were already doing this).  I added the suggested gifts and required quantities to the Leeds Wish List on Amazon. All gifts purchased from the list will be delivered to me.  We have a group of volunteers participating in a marathon gift wrapping session on Saturday 17 December.

How can people get involved? 

At this stage, mostly by being Secret Santas and purchasing gifts via the Amazon Wish list using this link https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/registry/wishlist/1A1SAFC1KDL5B/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2

Ideally, we would like to have as many of the gifts as possible delivered by 16 December (prior to the wrapping activity), however, having said that this does not mean that we would not accept contributions/donations thereafter!  In addition, our venue does not have any sofas/soft furnishings, so if there is anyone who has bean bags/sofas etc. that they are not using and would be prepared to lend/donate these to us  that would be amazing.

So, click on the link and choose your present. It’s quick and easy way of being Secret Santa and it will make someone’s day to receive a sackful of presents.

If anyone else is thinking of doing something similar you can find out exactly how to plan your event for 2017 on Lemn Sissay’s blog.