'Children in poverty can feel unworthy at Christmas'

Brenda Parara has been distributing gifts to struggling families for five years

A mother in east London says children who do not receive gifts at Christmas often "do not feel worthy" of them.

Brenda Parara launched the Joy This Christmas campaign to support families with toys and clothes.

This year, she expects to provide gifts for more than 300 children across Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley.

Ms Parara, who has been running her campaign for five years, said families are "really, really struggling" with the cost-of-living crisis.

The impact of this, she said, was that primary school children with few or no gifts from Father Christmas question whether or not they're a "good child".

"When it's all conversations about Santa, it's 'Santa mustn't love me, Santa mustn't think I'm worthy, because I'm the only person in the class that didn't get anything'," she said.

Ms Parara is supported by friends and family to collect donations

Ms Parara said that for her own family, Father Christmas now only brings one gift, with the rest of the presents from parents.

"At least if they're talking to another child, it wouldn't be 'well Santa brought me all these expensive gifts'," she added.

Ms Parara said her campaign, which she runs on Facebook, coordinates gifts for babies all the way up to 16.

She added that if a child's siblings are too young for school or nursery, they also include them, so no-one is left out.

Inside a typical gift bag from Joy This Christmas

And for teenagers, presents can include gift vouchers so they can spend it on their specific interests.

She is supported by friends and her husband Rob and children Jayden and Ryhanna to collect pre-loved donations for three weeks at the start of the campaign.

This year, she expects to support families from eight or nine different schools, and is also in contact with community centres and Queen Elizabeth Hospital's children's ward.

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