Where to donate and receive free Christmas gifts for kids in Glasgow: St Enoch Centre launch campaign to support children this winter

A charity has teamed up with the St. Enoch Centre to make sure children in need in the city get presents this Christmas.
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Glasgow shopping complex, the St. Enoch Centre, has teamed up with the charity ‘ Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas’, to raise much-needed funds and gift donations to children in need across Glasgow and the surrounding areas.

It’s believed that 36,000 children live in ‘relative poverty’ in Glasgow – that’s one in three children in the city. Now with the cost-of-living crisis driving many families into financial hardship, this figure is set to increase resulting in thousands of children going without gifts this Christmas.

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Founded in 2014, Glasgow’s Spirit Of Christmas (GSOC) provides gifts for children in Glasgow affected by hardship or living in poverty. In the nine years since its establishment, the charity has donated over £3.2 million worth of gifts to some 90,000 children. Inviting those who can become a ‘Secret Santa’ so that every child is included in Christmas.

This year, St. Enoch Centre is supporting Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas vision and donating the full £10 ticket price for its Meet Santa grotto to the charity. Children visiting the grotto will get to write and post their Christmas letter before meeting Santa and receiving a gift.

Shoppers will also be encouraged to become Secret Santas and donate gifts to support this year’s appeal.

Donations purchased by shoppers whilst in St Enoch Centre are welcome from November 10 until December 15 and can be dropped off in the Centre’s Leith Collective store on level one in the centre. Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas community members who would like to donate but haven’t yet pledged a gift through the Christmas Portal can drop them off between November 28 – December 15.

No child in Glasgow will have to go without presents this year thanks to a new campaign between Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas and the St Enoch CentreNo child in Glasgow will have to go without presents this year thanks to a new campaign between Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas and the St Enoch Centre
No child in Glasgow will have to go without presents this year thanks to a new campaign between Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas and the St Enoch Centre
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Julie Griffin, Founder of Glasgow’s Spirit of Christmas said:”No-one can imagine a year without Christmas or a child waking up to no gifts or a visit from Santa which is why we’re so grateful to be working with St Enoch Centre to make a difference for thousands of local referred children this year. Becoming a child’s Secret Santa is a wonderful feeling and an opportunity to protect the spirit, hope and magic of Christmas for us all.”

Santa’s grotto can be found on level one near the Vue cinema - and is open weekends between November 26 and December - and then daily the week before Christmas, Monday 19th and Friday 23rd (December 19 - December 24). Pre-booking online is essential.

The Glasgow Spirit of Christmas donation hub is located within The Leith Collective store on the level near H&M, gifts can be dropped off until December 15. Visit the St Enoch website for more information.

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