Mission Christmas FAQs Making a Donation When and where can I drop off my gift(s)? Do you accept food? / Can I donate chocolate? Do I need to wrap the gift(s)? Do I need to label the ages on them? We will be accepting gift donations from Monday 12 th November at locations across the region a map will appear on our website from this date. No, the children who receive gifts may be allergic to particular food items. If you do have food that you would like to donate, please donate it to your local Food bank No, all gifts should be new and unwrapped. Gifts are left un-wrapped to enable us and the recipients to decipher what age group they are suitable for. No, this will be taken from the age as defined on the box. Do you accept rolls of wrapping paper? Yes we do. We pass these on to local charities and organisations. Do you accept second-hand/used gifts? No, regardless of the condition we can only accept new gifts for children we support. We want to ensure that the children we are supporting receive only a new gift, especially if this is the only one they will receive. What about presents that require batteries? How do I donate if I can t go out and buy a gift? Please tape batteries to the side of the box so that the children can play with their gift on Christmas day. Batteries tend to be expensive for parents to buy, so where possible please provide. You can donate online via our website and drop off a cash donation or post a cheque to the radio station our address details are on the website. Once the appeal launches fully on 12 th November you will also be able to donate 5 or
10 via text, and we will also provide banking details on request. What would cash donations be used for? Once we have fulfilled all of our gift applications, any additional funds will be used to provide grants for disadvantaged children across the year. When do you need the gifts by? Gifts are to be donated by 18 th December 2018 Do you take clothes? Can I apply for my children? Can I apply for family near me? Can my company be a drop off? Can my home address be a drop off? Can I drop off gifts direct to the warehouse? Yes, please remember this is a gift appeal, we would appreciate it if you could choose an item of clothing that you feel is appropriate to give as a gift on Christmas morning. Please note we are not provided with the clothing sizes of the children we support. The general public cannot apply direct - you must be referred by a Teacher/ Social Worker/Professional. The general public cannot apply direct - you must be referred by a Teacher/Social Worker. Yes, as long as you sign up online as an official Drop Off Organisation and agree to the terms and conditions (available on the sign up form). No Yes, please check out dates and times online from 12 th Applying for Gifts How do I apply for Mission Christmas gifts? I am a parent/guardian and I would like to apply for gifts for my family? Am I eligible for gifts? Has my application been successful? You can apply online on our website, from the page where you accessed this FAQ. All applications must be made by an official organisation i.e. School/Teacher/Social Worker on behalf of your family/children. Please see criteria online available on the application form. Our system will let you know we are in receipt of your application, you should receive an email with a tracking number. We will do our best but cannot guarantee all applications will be fulfilled as we rely on donations. When will I receive my gifts? I applied on the first day what s taking so long? I ve applied for toys but haven t heard anything yet, where s my order? Cash for Kids receive applications for thousands of children and we rely on donations to fulfil each request. However some age ranges are harder to fulfil than others. The team will only confirm when all of the gifts for all of the children are ready for collection. When will my toys be ready for collection?
You will receive an email from the Cash for Kids team when your gifts are ready to collect. All gifts will be ready for collection before 19 th December. Unfortunately we rely on donations to fulfil the applications - therefore we can only confirm the date of collection by email when the application has been fulfilled. Is there a maximum number of children I can apply for? Can I amend/add to my application? Can I amend my order to increase the number of children? What age range of children do you help? Can I apply for cash instead? No, but please be aware that large orders do take longer to be fulfilled. As long as you can confirm that every child you are applying for is in need of the gifts and meets our eligibility criteria please see criteria on our application form - we will endeavour to fully meet your request. Yes, please get in touch with the Cash for Kids team via the information on your tracking email. Yes, as long as this is before you have been informed it is ready for collection. If not a new application will be required. From birth to 18 years No, Cash for Kids do not give cash grants - but organisations can apply separately via the granting system for specific items. Visit the grants page on our website for more details. We only grant out gifts at Christmas. Can my husband/friend/colleague collect my toys for me? Can someone else collect my order? Can I pick/specify items? Only - if they have been registered on the application form. Identification must be provided. Yes, in order for someone to collect on your behalf please add them to your official collector area on your online application. Identification must be provided. No, unfortunately the Cash for Kids team and volunteers will only pick gifts in line with age ranges If you require specific gifts, please outline this in your application in the additional information section we cannot guarantee we will be able to fulfil this request. Can I swap gifts for others that I see when I am there to collect? No, unfortunately the Cash for Kids team and volunteers will only pick gifts in line with age ranges You will have an order fulfilled to collect.
Where is your warehouse? What time are you there till/ can we pick up late? Can you deliver the toys out to me? Can we call you back? I am going on holiday and need my applications early We are a school and need gifts by a certain date? We are working on setting up our warehouse for this year full details will be posted online closer to the appeal launch in Collections times and dates will be specific to organisations. Opening times for our warehouse will be posted online closer to the appeal launch in No, unfortunately for Data Protection and safety reasons all gifts must be collected from the warehouse by the designated person on the application form. No, you will receive an email to tell you when the order is ready. Please specify this on the application form, although this cannot be guaranteed as we rely on donations to fulfil orders. Please specify this on the application form, although this cannot be guaranteed as we rely on donations to fulfil orders. Registering as a Drop Off Point How do I register as a drop off point? Any company/organisation can be a drop off point by signing up online and agreeing to the terms and conditions present on the sign up form. You can register online via our website. Individuals and home addresses cannot become drop off points. What days and times can I deliver gifts? If I am a drop off point:- Do you collect the gifts from me? Can you come and pick up my toys? How do we get the gifts to you? I am a drop off point:- Will I get a drop off box? Does every drop off receive a box? Can I have a collection box for toys? When am I getting my box? Gifts can be delivered direct to the warehouse, opening times and the location will be online from No, due to the volume of drop offs. You will need to get these direct to the warehouse. Please bring them to the warehouse address details to be shared in Boxes are only for sponsors and partners. There is a cost to the boxes, if you would like one please contact your local Cash for Kids team before 17 th September. If you are a Sponsor or Mission Christmas Partner you should receive your box before 12th
Can we have posters? My box is full, when can you collect? Posters will be downloadable from our website from 12 th We suggest you hold the gifts until you have enough to take direct to the warehouse. You must deliver the gifts you collect to our HQ we would be grateful for this. Where can we take the gifts to? How do I transport the gifts to the warehouse? We are not on the map Gifts can be delivered direct to the warehouse/ station - opening times will be online from By signing up as a "drop off" you agree to be able to transport all gifts to the warehouse/station by the closing date. You will only appear on the map if you are a Public drop off point. Please check that you have entered the correct details and that you have set yourself up as a PUBLIC drop off point. I can t get to the warehouse, where can I drop off my gift? When is the last day that I can accept gift donations? What is the last date/closing date to drop off toys to you? What if customers bring gifts to me after the closing date? A full list of points will be online from 12 th No later than 18 th December. Closing date for gifts to be taken to the warehouse/station will be 19 th December. If you are able to bring them to our warehouse before 19 th December we will endeavour to get them distributed. If you miss the closing date unfortunately we are unable to guarantee distribution in time for Christmas; however these gifts will be distributed in the New Year. What if customers bring in unwanted gifts after Christmas? Where do the gifts go/who receives them/how are they distributed? If we receive gifts after Christmas we will use them in the New Year to support children s homes, women s refuges and disadvantaged families via Social Services, and for future granting. Please still accept these gifts on behalf of Cash for Kids. As long as they are new and unwrapped and suitable for children from birth - 18 we will be able to use them for emergency cases in the New Year. Gifts are sorted by the Cash for Kids team and volunteers. The gifts are signed for and collected by the organisation who have applied on behalf of the children they work with.
The organisation then wrap and distribute the gifts out to the children they are supporting. Who distributes the gifts? Why do the drop-off points close before Christmas Eve? Gifts are sorted by the Cash for Kids team & volunteers. Gifts are applied for and collected by, recognised children's organisations. These organisations then distribute to the families under their supervision/care. Gifts that are sorted by the Cash for Kids team & volunteers have to be distributed to the organisations who apply for them on behalf of the children/families under their supervision/care. They then need a couple of days to deliver these to the children and their families. Closing the donation date before Christmas allows everyone to get the gifts to the children/families on time. My workplace/school/nursery would like to fundraise, can we download posters and fundraising pack? My workplace/school/nursery would like to take part but can t be a public drop off, can we still be involved? Can we be a drop off, just for our internal staff? Our staff want to raise money for this can we? Should we buy gifts with the cash raised? Downloadable Mission Christmas fundraising pack and posters will be available online from 12 th Yes, we encourage everyone to take part & donate gifts or cash to this campaign. All relevant posters will be downloadable online from Yes, we encourage all companies to take part and get their staff to donate gifts or cash; even if they are NOT a public drop off simply choose the Private option when registering as a drop off. Yes, we encourage all companies to "be part of it" Cash can be donated online or direct to Cash for Kids. We would encourage any cash that is raised to be donated direct to Cash for Kids as we have deals in place with companies to purchase gifts at specialist rates/or the money will be used for specialist gifts or for emergency grants. You can donate online via our website or you can drop in cash to the radio station, or give 5/ 10 by text from We can also provide bank details on request.