This year, Touchstone is running a reverse advent calendar campaign to support clients experiencing homelessness and service users accessing support from our Here For You crisis team.
What is a Reverse Advent Calendar?
For those who don’t know, Reverse Advent Calendars are similar to an advent calendar but flipped! Instead of opening a door to receive a treat each day, charities and community organisations ask for a different donated item each day of the advent season to support people in our local communities over the festive season.
Touchstone’s Reverse Advent Calendar 2024
At Touchstone this year, we are asking for donations via our Reverse Advent Calendar so we can give small festive gifts to clients experiencing homelessness. Donations from the calendar will also go to providing refreshments for our evening crisis support service, Here For You, which will run every night throughout the Christmas period for those experiencing mental health difficulties.
Items needed include:
- Store cupboard staples i.e. long-life milk, cereal, pasta, rice, noodles, and pasta sauce
- Tea, coffee, sugar and hot chocolate
- Snacks such as biscuits, sweets, chocolate
- Tinned goods i.e. tinned veg, tinned fruit, tinned tuna, soup etc
- Toiletries, i.e. shower gel, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, sanitary products, shampoo and conditioner, baby wipes
- Festive gifts i.e. Mindfulness Colouring books, games etc
For inspiration, or to buy directly, you can visit our Amazon Wishlist here: Amazon.co.uk
How you can take part and support us
There are lots of ways you can take part and support us during this Festive Period! Here are just some of the ways you can get involved:
- Each day leading up to Christmas, put one of the above listed items in a cardboard box to create a small hamper/shoebox. Drop at one of our offices before we close for Christmas (offices close at 1pm on 24th December). Find out about your nearest drop off point in Leeds, Wakefield or Kirklees by calling our office (details below).
- Choose one or more items from our Amazon Wishlist to donate. The items will be sent directly to our Head Office and distributed by our staff members to our clients this festive period.
Throughout the festive period, we will be sharing posts on social media with inspiration of what you can donate on different days. For inspiration, please follow us on: Twitter / X, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.
We know times are hard at the moment for everyone and we welcome any donation, however big or small.
If you can’t donate at the moment, we’d also hugely appreciate you sharing the wishlist with your families, friends and loved ones.
If you have any questions, please email office@touchstonesupport.org.uk or call our office on 0113 271 8277.