West Berkshire Council is supporting two great Christmas gift giving campaigns this year to show people in need that others in their community are thinking of them.

The Council is launching its annual Giving Tree campaign, which provides gifts for victims of Domestic Abuse and their families over Christmas. This year we’ve also created a special Community Santa project for people who have been experiencing hardship due to Covid and have been nominated by their communities to receive a gift.

Due to restrictions as a result of the pandemic, this is being done digitally this year and the Council is asking people to choose a recipient via two digital pages for Community Santa and Giving Tree at https://info.westberks.gov.uk/Christmas.

They will be able to select a label with anonymised information on the person they will be buying for, for example ‘Girl age 9’ or ‘Man age 82’. Once they have made their choice, they will receive details on how to arrange delivery of the gift to the council, which will then arrange for gifts to be distributed to individuals.

The campaign also provides a good opportunity to support local businesses by buying gifts from local retailers. West Berkshire Council will be using its social media channels to encourage gift givers to ‘Shop Local’ this Christmas, whether online where necessary or in person when possible.

Graham Pask, Chairman of West Berkshire Council said: “We are proud to be supporting The Giving Tree again this year as it has shown great success in previous years and are also excited to have developed the new Community Santa campaign so that more people in need can experience a little festive cheer.

“Although the pandemic has added a layer of complexity to how we’re running the campaigns, we have worked hard to make sure both can take place in a Covid secure way.

“We’ve seen incredible community support and strength during Covid and this is reflected in the number of nominations for gifts that we are receiving for Community Santa.

The Giving Tree remains as important as ever during a time of stress and upheaval for many people who are suffering Domestic Abuse and having to leave their homes in order for them and their families to stay safe.”

“We asking local people to go to https://info.westberks.gov.uk/Christmas and donate a gift to a fellow resident who is having a particularly difficult year. Of course, we know that many gift givers will themselves have been affected so we’re asking them to donate what they can as every donation, regardless of size, is so very welcome.”