Help us keep families warm this winter.
Update 6th December 2023
We hit our fundraising target of £10,000 and thanks to some extremely generous donors, managed to raise £10,472.99. Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign, either by sharing to raise awareness or by making a donation. We really value your support
This year we are once again taking part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2023.
Join us, and for any donations made during The Big Give campaign week (28th November – 5th December 2023), donations are matched, so your donation is doubled!
Our campaign in now live. please CLICK HERE TO DONATE VIA THE BIG GIVE
The Effects of Child Poverty
Poverty affects one in three children in Kirklees. When children grow up in poverty, they miss out on the things most children could take for granted: warm clothes, a clean bed, three meals a day, school trips, having friends over for tea etc… They are likely to do less well at school and as future adults will have reduced economic opportunities and are more likely to suffer health inequalities.
Living in poverty causes significant stress. Financial worries are most common in deprived areas of Kirklees and research shows that it has short and long term effects on a child’s education/learning and health.
The cost of living has risen, with many families now experiencing everyday life challenges. Parents have told us how they are worried because they can’t afford to heat their homes and are missing meals so they can buy nappies and food for their children.
Living in poverty adds further strains to many parents already struggling with anxiety, post-natal depression, isolation, physical and other health related problems.
Tackling Child Poverty
Home-Start Kirklees is committed to ensuring children have the best start in life. We want children to be thriving not just surviving. Our tackling child poverty fund is designed to provide crucial support when families need it most. Through our Tackling Child Poverty fund, we provide:
- Clothing for adults and children to keep them warm and dry.
- Household items like bedding and blankets to make a home feel comfortable and warm.
- One to one budgeting support, educating and empowering families to better manage their finances.
Our most recent data (22/23) shows that 55% of families referred to us were struggling with finances. Due to a lack of financial knowledge, some of our parents access pay day loans and other high interest financial agreements to pay for household goods. Parents are often plunged into debt spirals which has a detrimental impact on their health and wellbeing.
Through our tackling child poverty fund, we identify families in need and provide them with practical advice on switching energy providers, saving money on food shopping and teach them budgeting techniques to help prevent further debt.
Our Impact
In 2022/23, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we were able to make a huge difference to the lives of our supported families. Here are a few examples of how we help change families lives.
“The blankets and rug has made a massive difference. I can keep my electric fire off and we all have a cosy blanket to keep us warm. The food voucher has made me feel a lot of relief and less tension from my anxiety. I’ve been able to top up my gas and eat with my kids. It’s made a real difference to me, the fact I can sit down and eat a meal with my kids and be warm is more than I could have ever asked for. Thank you.”
“First of all I want to say I massive thank you! With everything going up it’s a lot harder to keep the house warm and it has been quite a stress for me. Now that we’ve got a dressing gown for layering up and duvets (and covers) instead of thin blankets this will help massively through the night. The wellies for my daughter means we can still go in the garden and have fun knowing I won’t need to worry about her feet getting all wet and cold, as well as not having to wait for shoes to dry so we can do things!”
“Thank you so much for the curtains and bedding, they have been so helpful in keeping the heat in and making sure we’re all warm. With the cost of living crisis, essentials like these aren’t easy to come by so this has helped us out a lot, thank you.”
We’re proud of our charitable work and thankful to our supporters and donors. They share our passion for helping some of the most vulnerable families in Kirklees and we couldn’t do it without them.
Take a look at our campaign page
What is the Christmas Challenge?
The Christmas Challenge (the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign) helps UK-registered charities to raise funds for their projects by doubling donations when the campaign goes live on 1st December. You can find full details of the Christmas Challenge, and how your pledge will enable us to be part of the UK’s largest Matched Funding Challenge, on theBigGive.org.uk. Research shows that 84% of donors are more likely to give in a match funding campaign and that donations are on average 2.5 times bigger so we’re very excited about the opportunity to take part.
