Give A Child A Christmas 2021.

Time FM’s annual “Give a child a Christmas” appeal in collaboration with Romford BID and GBP Estates has been an amazing success thanks to the public’s generosity!

Once again, this year, in order to keep the donation process Covid safe, listeners were able to donate money to a Go Fund Me page set up by Romford BID Director, Julie Frost who also set up discount deals and arrangements with local shops so that the cash donated could go further. This charity page enabled donations to be made online, to lessen the need for people to come out and physically donate.
However, we were also very grateful for the hundreds of gifts that were delivered to the radio station and to our appeal partner, GBP EstatesThe local shops who participated in the discount scheme included Storky Baby & Children’s Wear, The Entertainer (Mercury Mall), the toy stall in the Liberty and The Works. We also worked with our friends at the Romford Shopping Hall and received discounts from Hande Made and Explore Accessories, as well as shopping in some of our other favourite stores such as B&M, Home Bargains and Asda. Our thanks go to all the above for their support and generous discounts.

Julie Frost said “We have loved working on this appeal again this year with our friends at Time FM. It really has been amazing to see the generosity of our local community and the Time FM listeners. I am also extremely grateful to all the stores that gave us discounts and to be able to re-invest all the money back into our local shops at what is still such a difficult time for them all.”

Agencies that benefitted from the appeal included, LBBD Social Services Team and Hostels, LBH Social Services, Salvation Army, LBBD Schools, Peabody Trust, Gingerbread Society, ELHAP in Woodford Green, The RJ Mitchel school and several families in need.

Sales Manager at Time FM, Tom Goldsmith said “The generosity of our listeners has been amazing. There are a lot of underprivileged children in our area and year after year the local people go out of their way to buy an extra present or two. We’d like to thank everyone for their efforts and for helping to bring smiles to lots of children’s faces this Christmas.”

In total we have received enough physical gifts to make up 1,250 presents and our total fundraising efforts have raised £11,250.00. This has meant that over 2,000 children in the local community have benefitted by receiving gifts and toys from the appeal.

We still have some money left over and so in the New Year will be speaking to these agencies to discuss any donations that we can make or specific items we can buy.

The team and DJs at Time FM were integral to the fundraising due to regular mentions on air during peak times of the day and not to mention the support gained by the much-awaited video that went along with the appeal produce by Mark Dover.

Last week the BID and Time FM met to discuss money that was left over from buying presents and we are delighted to say that it is just over £1,600. We have therefore decided to give the money to four of the agencies who are absolutely delighted. Details of how the funds will be spent are below:
Ardleigh Green Family Centre

Money towards fundraising for a new computer to help children with homework, CV writing for teenagers and generally helping to support local families.

Harold Hill Salvation Army
Money to buy nappies, baby milk and clothing for babies and young children of struggling families in the area.
Havering Women’s Aid
Money towards purchasing some new garden play equipment for the upcoming spring/summer period. They are lucky enough to have a reasonably big garden and the families use this space a lot so it would be a nice purchase.
ELHAP
Money towards helping to keep their adventure playground open for the 100’s of disabled children and young people who depend on it in the local area.