Urgent call for children’s resources amidst Coronavirus crisis

Official government statistics came out on the 26th March 2020 showing child poverty levels rising to 4.2 million across the country. These levels of poverty disproportionately hit the North East with over a third of all children suffering the effects of poverty. The challenges that poverty present are far reaching and with the new Coronavirus outbreak families are finding themselves trapped in their homes with limited resources to be able to get through each day, and this before the pressure of supporting their children in their literacy and numeracy with school and nursery closures.

Children North East have a mission to ensure that all children grow up healthy and happy. One of our responses to the current pandemic is that Children North East are seeking resources and activities that can be distributed to those most at need. We are calling on all businesses to identify what they may have that can be distributed – sometimes some of the most basic office equipment can help.  The call for resources has been established with the name Scrappy Dooz and all resources will be donated and gathered in a central location in Newcastle and distributed to those most in need.

We have set up an Amazon wishlist for ease of purchasing, or please see the list below and get in touch if you have anything you may be able to offer so we can arrange the logistics.

  • Paper (of all sizes) / Card
  • Pens / pencils
  • Felt tips
  • Colouring pencils
  • Paints
  • Playdough
  • Construction blocks / lego
  • Toys
  • Sheets (for den building)
  • Games
  • Sticker books
  • Colouring books
  • Workbooks
  • Story books
  • Gardening (small pots and packs of seeds ie. Cress / sunflower seeds)
  • Cake mixes

 

All material that we gather must be unused, and ideally new.

If you can contribute then please contact our Schools Lead Luke Bramhall at [email protected].