Christmas 2026
A Harlow Christmas appeal
This Christmas, more than 7,000 children in Harlow are growing up in poverty. For many families that means no proper Christmas dinner, nothing under the tree, and a long, cold winter holiday without free school meals.
Our first target is £10,000 by 10 December, but it’s not our limit. The more we raise, the more Harlow families we can reach.
The need
Through our clubs and our work in Harlow schools, we see it every December. Teachers and parents tell us this is when the pressure on families is greatest: the heating’s on, the cupboards are emptier, and children notice what they’re missing.
7,369
Harlow children growing up in poverty, more than 1 in 4
End Child Poverty Coalition, 2025
1 in 6
UK households with children don’t have enough to eat, up from 1 in 7 a year earlier
Food Foundation, June 2026
266,000
emergency food parcels went to children last winter, 1 in every 3 parcels given out
Trussell, December 2024 – February 2025
2 weeks
of Christmas holiday with no free school meals, just when the bills peak
Nobody should feel left out at Christmas, least of all a child.
What we’re doing
A full Christmas dinner sized to the family: all the trimmings, plus a supermarket voucher for the meat so it’s fresh on the day. Delivered to the door before Christmas.
Long-life food, treats and winter essentials to help a family through the holidays.
Referred families tell us what their children are hoping for, and we help make it happen.
We’re planning a toy run to the children’s ward at Princess Alexandra Hospital, for children spending Christmas in hospital.
We’ll give toys to local schools to pass on quietly to the children their staff know need them most.
Give
Donations go on food, gifts and getting them to Harlow families. Here’s what yours buys:
£10
buys a stocking filler for a child
£40
buys a child’s wish-list present
£45
fills a winter warmer box for a family
£55
gives a family of four their Christmas dinner
How our first £10,000 breaks down
| Christmas dinner boxes | 50 families × £55 | £2,750 |
| Winter warmer boxes | 80 families × £45 | £3,600 |
| Wish-list gifts | 40 children × £40 | £1,600 |
| Packaging, fuel and delivery | £800 | |
| Extra toys and contingency | £1,250 | |
| Total | £10,000 |
The more we raise, the more families we help
| Raised | Christmas dinners | Warmer boxes | Presents |
|---|---|---|---|
| £5,000 | 25 families | 40 families | 20 children |
| £10,000 | 50 families | 80 families | 40 children |
| £15,000 | 75 families | 120 families | 60 children |
| £20,000 | 100 families | 160 families | 80 children |
Every milestone includes the cost of packaging, fuel and delivery.
The outcome
If we hit our target, this is what Harlow families get this Christmas:
50
families sit down to a full Christmas dinner, around 200 people
80
families get a winter warmer box to see them through the holidays
40
children open a present they actually asked for
100s
of donated toys for children in hospital and in Harlow schools
Food on the table when free school meals stop, one less bill to worry about, and a Christmas their children won’t feel left out of.
A quiet, dignified way to help the pupils their staff are already worried about, without singling anyone out.
Local people, local businesses and local volunteers looking after their own. We buy from local suppliers wherever we can, so the money stays in town.
We’ll report back in January: how many families we reached, what went in the boxes, and how every pound was spent.
Who we are
SA Foundation CIC was set up in 2024 by Harlow-born coaches who founded Strike Academy in 2023. We already work with young people and families across the town every week, so we know where help is needed and how to get it there.
1,200+
people reached directly in the last 12 months
6
Harlow schools we work with
£107k+
in grant funding secured for local projects
100%
of staff DBS checked and safeguarding trained, with a named Designated Safeguarding Lead
Our funders and partners include Sport England, the National Lottery Community Fund, Barclays, Asda Foundation and Passmores Academy. We hold a High Sheriff Award for community safety in Essex.
For Harlow businesses
Local businesses can make the biggest difference to this appeal, with money, stock or time. Every sponsor is thanked publicly on this page and across our channels.
Funds five boxes, with your business name on the card inside each one.
Funds ten boxes. Your logo on this page and a thank-you post on our social channels.
Your logo on this page, our appeal posts and the cards in every box.
Pledge to match public donations up to a set amount for one week. It’s the single biggest boost an appeal can get.
Drop off a new, unwrapped toy or gift for ages 0–16. Gifts for teenagers are always the hardest to find.
Drop-off points: Safron Studio, Arise Innovation Hub reception, and Strike Academy clubs, until 12 December.
Help us pack boxes on 21 December and deliver them on 22–23 December. Drivers work in pairs and deliver to the doorstep only.
Need help?
Help is given by referral, so we can reach families fairly and quickly.
Schools, family hubs, health visitors, social workers and foodbanks: use our referral form to refer a family by Friday 27 November. It asks for the number of adults and children, the children’s ages, and which help would suit them best.
Parents and carers: speak to your child’s school or your family support worker. They can refer you to us in confidence.
We only use the details you share to deliver help this Christmas, and we delete them once the appeal is over. Read our privacy policy.
SA Foundation CIC, a Harlow community interest company (company number 15731933), supported by Strike Academy, Safron Studio and Outsdrz.
No. We’re a community interest company (CIC). Our assets are locked for community benefit and any surplus is reinvested in our work. Because we’re a CIC, donations can’t have Gift Aid added.
On food, gifts, boxes and delivery for Harlow families. GoFundMe takes a small processing fee on each donation; the rest comes to the appeal.
We’ll deliver on 22 and 23 December, so everything arrives before Christmas Eve.
Yes, long-life food is welcome at our drop-off points. Money goes further, though, because we buy wholesale.
We help more families. £15,000 means Christmas dinner for 75 families, winter warmer boxes for 120 and presents for 60 children, and £20,000 doubles our first target. Anything left after Christmas goes into SA Foundation’s work with young people in Harlow.
Families are referred by schools and support services who know them, so help reaches the people who need it most.
Give what you can, share this page, and help us make sure nobody is left out.
An appeal by SA Foundation CIC, in partnership with Strike Academy, Safron Studio and Outsdrz.
