Christmas will look different for many families this year, however children
living in poverty have revealed the extreme hardships that winter will bring for them, including feelings of deprivation, isolation, loneliness and shame, hunger and jealousy of other children’s experiences.
Whilst many children across the country will be excitedly writing lists for Santa, filled with presents they hope to get, many children in poverty won’t expect to get any presents and for those that do, there is a stark contrast between the national average spent on children (£130) compared to what is spent this time of year on children in poverty (£21.79).
The study, which surveyed charities representing 84,000 disadvantaged children aged 4-18 years old, revealed that over 2/3 of children supported by charities are not looking forward to the ‘festive’ period at all and find it a difficult time of the year. The reasons include experiences of poverty (89%), anxiety (74%), stress (65%), feelings of isolation (58%), parents or carers with physical or mental health problems (53%), living in temporary accommodation (53%), food insecurity (46%), boredom (46%), getting few presents (44%), fuel poverty (33%), being a young carer (33%), domestic violence (31%), alcoholism or substance abuse (31%) and lack of sufficient winter clothing (28%).
The Childhood Trust is aiming to raise £3million in one week (1st to 8th December) through its ‘Christmas Challenge’ fundraising campaign that will help over 80,000 children living in poverty in London this Christmas. This campaign aims to fund the delivery of 85 projects throughout London providing a comprehensive programme of vitally needed services to meet the practical and emotional needs of more than 80,000 vulnerable and disadvantaged children this Christmas and throughout 2021.
Fuel Poverty
33% of children supported by our partner charities are not looking forward to Christmas because their family cannot afford to heat their home.
Over the Christmas period, a combination of colder temperatures and spending time at home significantly worsens the impact of fuel poverty. This has a devastating impact upon children, both physically, mentally and emotionally. Children are twice as likely to suffer respiratory problems (such as asthma) when living in fuel poverty. It is also linked to slower developmental progress and it can also have a number of indirect impacts, such as lower rates of educational attainment in school, and a strain on young people’s mental health. Often, those in fuel poverty will result in either limiting energy consumption, leading to cold, dark and unsafe homes, while other households may have to restrict other spending (such as on food), perpetuating a further cycle of poverty this Christmas.
Food Poverty
43% of children supported by our partner charities will experience some form of food poverty over the Christmas period
Over Christmas many children are unable to access free school meals, leading to holiday hunger, and, as many charities and organisations are partially closed over the Christmas break, it removes another safety net for disadvantaged children. Food banks usually supplement the shortfall in services and whilst the Government’s new £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme is welcomed, previous pilot schemes has demonstrated that it is highly unlikely to be adequate in London where only three London Boroughs received holiday meals grants this summer, excluding tens of thousands of children.
Other critical issues disclosed in the report include Material Deprivation and Temporary Accommodation. The report can be viewed or downloaded here:
Laurence Guinness, CEO of The Children’s Trust said, “We are gravely concerned about the growing number of children who have been forced into poverty by the Coronavirus pandemic. The scale of inequality has been made much worse this year by the economic and psychological impacts from the pandemic and the measures taken to contain it. Whilst Christmas is a joyous time for many, for disadvantaged and vulnerable children the experiences of poverty and destitution are much worse at this time so it’s critical we get immediate aid to as many children in need as we possibly can.”
Nazia Rashid, a Family Support Worker said, “We work with a number of families and children where one parent has lost their job, and it does cause real tension. Without access to help and support, funded via campaigns like this, I don’t know where those children would be.”
The Childhood Trust’s Child 12 page ‘Child Poverty, Coronavirus and Christmas”report was carried out with nearly 40 charities supporting children throughout all London Boroughs, that are collectively supporting a total of 84,000 disadvantaged children aged 4-18 years old. The data draws upon children’s personal experiences, in addition to the charity’s knowledge of children’s and their families’ experiences at Christmas.
The Christmas Challenge campaign is a matched fundraising campaign that doubles individual donor’s donations made via an online portal operated by our partners The Big Give. The matched fund is comprised of The Childhood Trust’s fund (25%) and each charity’s major donor’s pledge fund (25%). This creates 50% of each charity’s target fund. The other 50% of the target is raised from the charity’s existing and new supporters via a webpage provided to each charity.
Donations can be made here: https://childhoodtrustchristmaschallenge.com/donate
In June, The Childhood Trust raised £3,655,349 for vulnerable and disadvantaged children via its Champions for Children Campaign which funding a network of 94 charities to deliver practical and emotional support for over 200,000 disadvantaged children in London. Over a third of these projects would have closed by now without the funds raised by the Childhood Trusts campaign.
