In a festive twist that surprises absolutely no one who has checked a grocery receipt lately, charities handing out Christmas presents to struggling families say more children need help this year - while donations are simultaneously heading south. The Chard Christmas Present Appeal reports higher-than-normal demand, attributing it to more people struggling financially. In other breaking news, water is wet.

Martyna Lee, founder of the appeal, said many families are worried about affording presents for their children due to the cost of living crisis, and have "tears in their eyes" when the charity can help them. She added: "We are getting more referrals and less donations because of cost of living, so we do struggle. Cost of living is going to get harder and harder." A sentiment that pairs beautifully with the season of giving.

Lee started the appeal by herself in 2019 from her living room as part of the Lord's Larder food bank in Chard. The operation relies completely on donations and receives no funding - because who needs a budget when you have goodwill and a living room?

"With one family, the social worker asked the children what they would like for Christmas and they asked for pencils and a colouring book," Lee said. "That broke my heart. They weren't asking for expensive gifts. So I made sure they had a large gift package, including board games." She also recalled another family whose home had a fire just before Christmas, losing "nearly everything." "We managed to get them fantastic gifts and a Christmas tree and decorations," she said. A reminder that the bar for holiday miracles is currently set at "pencils."

Meanwhile, Taunton's charity appeal Christmas Sparkle said demand has risen sharply over the last couple of years - from 500 presents given out in 2015 to 10,000 last year - and they're expecting even higher demand this year. Gill Harrison, founder and manager at Christmas Sparkle, believes the cost of living crisis is driving the surge. "When we started the project in 2015, we gave out 500 individual gifts. Last year, it was around 2,300 parcels, that's about 10,000 individual gifts," Harrison said. "We are expecting possibly even more requests this year. That's mostly because of the cost-of-living crisis." So, roughly a 20-fold increase in a decade - nothing to see here.

Harrison said they work with schools, social services, police, women's refuges and community nursing teams, all of which have increased their referrals to Christmas Sparkle over the last few years. Because nothing says "holiday spirit" like a police referral for a Christmas present.

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