Waking up in matching pyjamas, a festive walk in your Christmas jumpers, disputes over board games, and eating never-ending leftovers are all typical components of a family Christmas.
But what does December 25th look like for care leavers?
For young people who leave the care system, turkey, tinsel and traditions are often replaced with loneliness, financial hardship and negative memories of Christmases past.
But a group of volunteers in Barnsley are changing their own family traditions to make sure care leavers in the town have a special day to remember.
The Barnsley Care Leavers Christmas Dinner is an initiative set up by Beth Goodliffe in 2018. Having been a care leaver, Beth knew what it was like to spend Christmas alone. She wanted to create a community in her hometown for young people like herself.
After months of planning, Beth and her steering group volunteers coordinate a big Christmas dinner, presents, and hampers for about 25 young people mainly aged 18 to early 20s.
Beth tries to make it like a proper family Christmas for these young people, showing them what a supportive, safe, healthy Christmas should look like.
She hosts a special celebration at a surprise venue each year, decorates the room in full festive splendour, and arranges transport for all the guests. She also buys each young person a meaningful gift, pyjamas and stocking fillers, and creates hampers filled with food staples and luxury items.
Of course, she can’t do it all alone. Beth is supported by a small team of volunteers who help with preparing and cooking the Christmas dinner, setting up and clearing up the room, transporting the guests, and wrapping the presents.
The Barnsley Christmas Dinner is part of a wider project that’s been running for over ten years. Care experienced poet, Lemn Sissay MBE, set it up in Manchester in 2013 and the concept quickly snowballed into multiple dinners across the rest of England.
Find out more at www.christmasdinnerbarnsley.org.uk
Or you can donate to the appeal here.
