Gift of Christmas Appeal Fife

How can I donate? How can I help?

 

Hi, thanks for supporting us. We accept donations of gifts, toys, books etc at any of our 60 drop off points across Fife, details of which can be found on our Facebook pages and our website. We accept cash donations too, just drop us an email to fifegiftofchristmas@gmail.com if you wish to make a cash donation. You can also purchase gifts from our General Amazon Wishlist HERE or from our Special Requests Amazon Wishlist HERE, which will be sent directly to us when you select our Gift Registry Address as you go through the checkout. PLEASE DO NOT GET AMAZON WISHLIST SENT TO YOUR HOME AND THEN DROP THEM OFF AT A DROP OFF POINT, AS THIS MEANS THEY MAY BE MISSED IN OUR WAREHOUSE IF THEY ARE FOR PARTICULAR CHILDREN.

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If you are buying items from both wishlists at the same time, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE click "Shipping to more than one address?" as you go through the checkout, and ensure that you select the Generic address for items you have chosen from the Generic Wishlist and the Special Requests address for items you have chosen from the Special Requests wishlist. Please DO NOT get items from either list shipped to your home address and then drop them off at a drop off point.

 

Where are the drop off points?

 

You will find a complete list of all of our 60 drop off points across Fife, including their addresses and opening hours, on our website HERE and on the Pinned Post / Announcements on our Facebook pages.

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Which age groups are usually thinnest on the ground?

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The 9-11 years age group (girl and boy) is the hardest to get donations for, followed by the 1-2 years (girl and boy) and 12-15 years boys. These are the age groups we have mostly tried to target on our Amazon Wishlist, here’s some more info about it - This year, as well as having 60 fantastic drop off points across Fife, Gift of Christmas Appeal Fife is also using an Amazon Wishlist HERE. This enables us to target the age groups we struggle most to obtain donations for, will allow people who can't get to a drop off point or live outside of Fife to still donate, and will also help people who struggle to think of what to buy. We have tried to include a wide range of gifts so there is plenty of choice. Just purchase your chosen gift as normal and select the GOCA Gift Registry address in the checkout. All items purchased from our Amazon Wishlist will be sent directly to us. 

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Do I buy gifts from your Amazon Wishlist and get them sent to me and then drop them off at a drop off point?

 

NO, please don't! You need to choose our Gift Registry Address as you go through the checkout, you should be able to see it as one of your delivery address options in the checkout. Your donations will then be sent directly to us. If you get them sent to you and then drop them off at a drop off point, they will be processed along with all other gifts from drop off points and items intended for particular recipients may be missed.

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If you are buying items from both wishlists at the same time, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE click "Shipping to more than one address?" as you go through the checkout, and ensure that you select the Generic address for items you have chosen from the Generic Wishlist and the Special Requests address for items you have chosen from the Special Requests wishlist. Please DO NOT get items from either list shipped to your home address and then drop them off at a drop off point.

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Where is the Pinned Post?

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Hi, you will find the Pinned Post (which contains a list of all of our drop off points) at the top of our Facebook business page HERE On a mobile this may be just a little ‘pin’ icon for you to click on. On our Facebook group page HERE the post in ‘Announcements’ is the same as the Pinned post on our business page. On these posts you will find a list of all of our drop off points and information about donating. You will also find lots of information on our website.

 

Can I do some fundraising for you? Can I fundraise for you at my event?

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Unfortunately, we aren't able to get directly involved with any fundraising and although we really appreciate people wanting to raise money for our charity, we aren't currently in a position to manage this. There are quite a few laws and regulations in place in relation to any form of charity fundraising, all of which must be followed, from things as simple as having 2 people dealing with all funds raised, displaying full charity name and charity number, having a license to hold a raffle etc. There is a Code of Fundraising Practice which covers street, door to door and private site fundraising - this would be complicated and time-consuming for us to understand and manage and it isn't something we wish to manage currently. Therefore we aren't able to encourage or agree to people formally fundraising for us, advertising any fundraising events in relation to Gift of Christmas Appeal Fife or be involved with any formal fundraising ourselves. We appreciate people thinking of us and trying to support us, but we are not able to agree to any public fundraising being done in our name. Therefore please do not hold any raffles, sales, sponsored events, or other fundraising activities where money will be raised, in order to raise money for our charity, unless they are private events with friends/family/colleagues. 

If you wish to collect donations or money informally from friends/family/colleagues and use it to buy gifts for you all to collectively donate to one of our drop off points, that would be fab and is a great alternative to formal/public fundraising - we are aware that lots of people do this, all put money in a pot then send a couple of people out to do the shopping! Internal events attended by your colleagues/friends/family, for example bake sales, are great too! Thanks for your support.

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I can’t share your Facebook group posts – please can you change the settings so I can share?

 

You can’t share any of the posts on our group page. We have a Fan page and a Group page. You can support Gift of Christmas Appeal Fife by doing the following.......

 

This is our Fan page HERE On our Fan page you can LIKE our posts, SHARE our posts, SHARE the page itself. You can also INVITE your Facebook friends to LIKE our Fan page. Just click 'Invite' and select the friends you want to invite.

 

This is our Group page HERE On our Group page you CANNOT share our posts as it is a closed group. You can LIKE our posts on our group page. You can also ADD YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS to our group. Just click 'ADD FRIENDS' and select the friends you want to ADD. They can always remove themselves anytime if they don't want to be a member.

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Can I make a cash donation?

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We accept donations of gifts, toys, books etc at any of our 60 drop off points across Fife, details of which can be found on our Facebook pages and our website. We accept cash donations too, just drop us an email to fifegiftofchristmas@gmail.com if you wish to make a cash donation. You can also purchase gifts from our Amazon Wishlist HERE, which will be sent directly to us when you select our Gift Registry Address as you go through the checkout. 

 

Do toys have to be new? Do you accept second-hand things?

 

Although we love previously loved second-hand things and we buy a lot of them ourselves for our own children, unfortunately we are not able to accept them for our Appeal. We simply do not have the capacity to check that every jigsaw is complete, every toy is clean, unbroken, doesn’t have bits missing, no batteries have leaked, isn’t marked or stained. Unfortunately, people also have different standards in relation to what is meant by ‘excellent condition’. Therefore we only accept donations which are brand new and in their original packaging, with their labels on. You will find lots of information about donating on our website and on our Facebook pages.

 

Do you accept gifts for mum and dad, gran etc?

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We don’t request gifts for ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’ etc but we are happy to accept them and we do usually receive quite a few ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’ bags each year. We pass these on to our beneficiary agencies who are working directly with families and can identify whose parents/carers who would benefit from receiving them. You will find lots of information about donating on our website https://giftofchristmas.wixsite.com/appealfife and on our Facebook pages.

 

Can I apply for gifts from you?

 

We only accept applications from professionals. We do not accept applications from individuals. If you are a professional and you wish to discuss making an application for a child you are working with, please drop us an email to fifegiftofchristmas@gmail.com and we will send you information about how to apply and a link to our application form. If you are an individual you would need to speak with a professional you are working with, such as a Social Worker, Health Visitor, Teacher, Housing Worker or Family Centre Worker, for example, so they can apply on your behalf if they feel an application would be appropriate.

 

Do I wrap the presents?

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Please DO NOT wrap your donations. All donations need to be checked to ensure that they are age appropriate, not damaged, that they are brand new, etc. We do not wrap the donations – this is left for the families to do. If you would like to donate a roll of wrapping paper, that would be much appreciated. We pop a roll of wrapping paper in as many gift bags as we can before they go to our beneficiary agencies. You will find lots of information about donating on our website and on our Facebook pages.

 

What is your application process?

 

We only accept applications from professionals working directly with families/parents/carers. We require 1 application to be fully completed per child. All applications should be completed with the consent of the children's parents/carers and should be discussed with them before the application is made. We require the names, DOB's, family names and address of all children being applied for, along with other information regarding their circumstances. This allows us to remove any duplicate applications and to ensure that the donations we receive reach those most in need. We never provide gifts to professionals without all of the information we require being provided. We never provide gifts to professionals based on purely 'a number' of children - we always require specific information regarding each child who will receive gifts from us. THIS IS WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE. IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR AN ORGANISATION YOU ARE PLANNING TO DONATE TO - ASK THEM ABOUT IT BEFORE DONATING SO YOU CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT YOUR DONATIONS ARE MOST LIKELY TO REACH THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WHO NEED THEM THE MOST! 2024 applications open on 1ST NOVEMBER 2023 and close on 22ND NOVEMBER 2024.

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Do you need any Volunteers?

 

We are are currently recruiting for any Volunteers - please see our Facebook pages for more information. We usually advertise annually in September/ October, keep your eye on our Facebook pages if you are interested in applying. All applicants are required to complete an Application Form, attend an Interview and provide two References.

 

Can I drop my donations off at your warehouse?

 

No I’m afraid you can’t, our warehouse is not open to the public and we do not allow members of the public to visit our warehouse to drop off donations. We have 60 drop off points across Fife where donations can be dropped off, a full list can be found on our website and our Facebook pages along with their addresses and opening hours. 

 

Can I hand in my donations after the cut off date?

 

Our 60 drop off points are open from 01 November 2024 until (and including) 08 December 2024. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept donations to drop off points after 08 December 2024 as we do not have the capacity to collect them. Any donations received at drop off points after 08 December 2024 will be collected at a later date and stored until next years Appeal. Perishables will be donated to a local food bank. Our Amazon Wishlists will remain open until the end of 08 December 2024.