Residents thanked as Trócaire hits one million Christmas gifts milestone

Trócaire has thanked people from across the island of Ireland as the charity announced it has received more than one million life-changing gifts since 2000 to support some of the world’s most vulnerable families.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Nov 2022, 10:40 BST
Updated 14th Nov 2022, 10:40 BST
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The worthy cause revealed the figure at the launch of its annual Christmas gifts campaign on November 11.

Launching the Gifts of Love, Trócaire’s Head of Region for Northern Ireland, Siobhan Hanley, said: “This one million gifts milestone is testament to the extraordinary generosity of the public here at home. Despite the immense challenges of the last few years our supporters have continued to be incredibly generous to those most need.”She said the Gifts of Love are hugely popular with Trócaire supporters and amidst all of the consumerism and spending associated with Christmas they give people an opportunity to buy a meaningful present from as little as £5 that will change the life of somebody in dire need.

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Ms Hanley said: “Currently an estimated 274 million people around the world need humanitarian assistance and we are relying on the public again this Christmas to support our work.

Stephen Zhong (7) and Emily Lindsay (6) from Newtownabbey help launch Trócaire’s annual Gifts of Love range of life-changing gifts.Stephen Zhong (7) and Emily Lindsay (6) from Newtownabbey help launch Trócaire’s annual Gifts of Love range of life-changing gifts.
Stephen Zhong (7) and Emily Lindsay (6) from Newtownabbey help launch Trócaire’s annual Gifts of Love range of life-changing gifts.

“The COP27 Climate Summit put the needs of people in the developing world who are battling to survive the effects of climate change in the spotlight. The climate crisis, along with Covid-19 and conflict, has resulted in 44 million people currently facing life-threatening food shortages in East Africa. Our gifts aim to ensure that people don’t reach the traumatic point where they have to rely on emergency humanitarian aid.”

This years Gifts of Love collection includes two new gifts - the ‘Gift of Winter Essentials’ (£20) to support Syrian families forced to flee their homes to refugee camps in neighbouring Lebanon - and the ‘Family Food Basket’ (£30) which provides basic food essentials and high nutrient food for malnourished children facing catastrophic hunger in the Horn of Africa due to the ongoing drought.The broad range of gifts also includes dignity packs to help young girls out of period poverty (£10) and mental health support for women and children traumatised by the ongoing conflict in Gaza (£40).

The gifts can be purchased online at trocaire.org/gifts or by calling 0800 912 1200.

Related topics:ResidentsNorthern IrelandLebanon