Alice Charity Santa Dash
Alice Charity’s annual Santa Dash is brought to you this year virtually
From the 1st of December until the 12th of December – Alice’s very own 12 days of Christmas. You can go at your own pace and set your very own dash. The goal is for all participants to contribute their miles to take us the 2184 miles from Stoke on Trent to Lapland, you set the challenge and the location keeping yourself and your family safe at the same time. Between us all we can jog, run, sprint or do whatever dash you fancy so we hit our Santa Dash 2020 challenge, raising funds to support disadvantaged and vulnerable families in Stoke and Newcastle in these difficult times. We suggest that you make the first donation of £10 then we can send you your very own Santa suit and then your fundraising challenge begins.
Year after year Alice Charity see a growing number of families needing our help in the festive season. Last Christmas I volunteered at Alice charity and witnessed first-hand just how much demand there was from within our communities for help with food, toys and Family Support. I remember thinking my children would be devastated if Santa did not come, we had no tree to put up and no family Christmas traditions to enjoy together. I tried to put myself in the shoes of the parents of those children Alice charity were helping, and I instantly felt a pressure which brought anxiety, stress and the weight of sadness.
My childhood memories of Christmas are the laughter and happiness being around the whole family, eating until bellies were full and lots of wonderful Christmas presents for everyone. I cannot imagine the impact of not having all that Christmas joy and happiness, of having no Christmas dinner to share, or worse still no food at all on Christmas day. I remembered going back to school so excited to be sharing my lovely Christmas news and memories with all my friends, but how awful those memories could have been, leaving me feeling isolated, resentful, even jealous
At Alice charity we cannot begin to imagine having to say no to a family who need our help this Christmas, but we fear a huge increase in demand this year as local disadvantaged families are already disproportionately impacted by covid19.