The "Giving Tree" arrives in Belfast Thursday 1st December saw the arrival of the annual "Giving Tree" in Marks & Spencer in Donegall Place, Belfast. The Giving Tree will be run jointly by the Society and Belfast Central Mission up until 14th December 2005.  | click to enlarge |
- The event runs for two weeks at the beginning of December and involves a Christmas Tree with gift tags containing the gender and age of a child up to the age of sixteen.
- The public are invited to choose a tag and buy and return a gift for that child.
- The gifts are equally divided between SVP & BCM and distributed to disadvantaged children throughout Belfast through our networks of volunteers.
- SVP & BCM recognised this need and seven years ago approached Marks & Spencer who continue to give their support by allowing us to place a "Giving Tree" in their store in Belfast.
Last year we provided 1,600 toys to over 1,000 children as a direct result of the "Giving Tree Appeal". Toys should be new and do not need to be wrapped. They must be returned to the Giving Tree no later than Wednesday 14th December to allow time for seasonal delivery. | Many families find Christmas a very difficult time. Unstable family life, a rise in the number of lone parent families as well as high levels of long-term unemployment are just a few of the difficulties faced.
 | | | click to enlarge | | | Rev Donald Ker (BCM), Barry McVeigh (M&S) and Aileen Coney (SVP) |
At Christmas time these difficulties are exaggerated by the pressure put on parents to provide extravagant gifts for their children. Many of these families simply cannot afford even the basic gift.
The "Giving Tree succeeds by providing toys for disadvantaged children from all sides of the community and that way the benefit is felt directly by the child. click to enlarge  | |  | Staff from SVP & BCM at launch | | SVP Members from North Belfast manning Tree |
For further information, please contact Margaret Linden on 02890-351561 or by email : margaret.linden@svpni.co.uk |
