BIG hearted church-goers and volunteers used their free time to make sure hundreds of teenagers leaving the care system in Worcestershire won’t miss out on a present this Christmas.
Volunteers from the Home for Good: Worcestershire, a Christian charity dedicated to supporting fostering and adoption services across the county, filled 400 stockings that are to be sent as Christmas presents.
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The stockings will be going to teenagers who have just come out of the foster care system, often known as care leavers.
Joy Pollock, head of charity, said: “I met with representatives of the care leavers council last June - I felt quite emotional and privileged to be allowed to attend the gathering.
"They explained to me they get care packages at Christmas.
“It is items like rice and pasta. While that is a good thing, after asking the young people what they thought, I felt they wanted the frivolous things - things they want, not things they need.
"Some of these care leavers may never have experienced a stocking. They are children who grew up in care, some say they don’t have family and really just want Christmas Day to go, when it arrives. I wanted us to do something about it.”
The charity drew up the list of items, including chocolate coins, slime, smellies and scented candles and its supporters, as well as churches and schools across Worcestershire, helped them collect 2,400 items.
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Volunteers worked hard to make sure the stockings the 19 to 21-year-olds received were personalised and home made, when they took part in the stocking filling event held at St Helen’s Church in Fish Street yesterday.
Mrs Pollock said: “I’d love for our care leavers to feel valued and remembered at a challenging time of year.
“They are a group of young people who have endured and are still enduring pain and brokenness because of things they had no control over.
"They are struggling with mental health, social skills, learning difficulties, social isolation and scars of self-harm and physical abuse inflicted on them."
Mrs Pollock added she would be ensuring all the stockings would be passed on in time for the big day.
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