A Social Worker’s Christmas List
Across November and December 2021, we asked our staff around the world to tells us what they want the most for Christmas. Here are some of the things on their lists:
1. Be the Secret Santa for children in their communities
Subhadeep, from India, included this on his list. One of the best things about Christmas is the anticipation. But for many of the children we help, there is little to anticipate, and little to hope for. Many of them have never had a toy to call their own. For only £8, you can help brighten their Christmas by giving the simple gift of a toy.
2. For all children to have access to electricity and basic utilities
According to Unicef and Save the Children, approximately 150 million additional children are living in multidimensional poverty, without access to essential services, due to the pandemic. In these extreme circumstances, we are seeing an increase in children being sent to orphanages. That’s why Andrea, from Romania, put this wish on her Christmas list. For just £10, you could cover the cost of a month’s mobile phone and internet use for a family, enabling one of our dedicated case managers to continue working remotely to keep children safe in families.
3. Safe and secure communities that nurture children
This is at the top of the list for Anita, from India. Locating vulnerable children and ensuring that they—and their families— receive the support they need to thrive is one of the major challenges we face. A strong, engaged community helps to ensure that children at risk do not go unnoticed. £45 would cover the average cost per month, for a family support worker to be active in the community, identifying families at greatest risk of separation and their children being placed in an orphanage.
4. For all children to know what it’s like to feel excited about spending Christmas surrounded by family
Giving every child the chance to experience a warm and wonderful Christmas is at the top of Catherine’s Christmas list. 8 out of 10 children in orphanages have living family members who could look after them, if given the rights support. For £86, we can trace the family of a child in an orphanage – starting the process of bringing them home for good.
5. Loving homes for all children (especially those who cannot grow up alongside their parents)
For every two deaths from Covid19 around the world, one child loses a caregiver. As the crisis continues, even more children are at risk. For £189, you could provide the essential support that a foster family needs in the first month to care for a child.
As countries plan their recovery from Covid, vulnerable children are being forgotten. At risk of exploitation, trafficking and life in an orphanage—they are falling to the bottom of everyone’s list.
Except ours.
Whilst help for these families is shrinking, their need is only growing. So our work to prevent vulnerable children being placed in orphanages, and to build new families for those who’ve lost them, is more important, more urgent, more needed than ever.
We won’t give up on children and families in need of support, and we know that you won’t either. Put children at the top of your list this Christmas.
