West Ham United women's team players Abbey-Leigh Stringer and Jess Ziu showed their support for Ambition Aspire Achieve’s Kevin Jenkins OBE Newham Christmas Toy Appeal with a visit earlier this month.
As part of the Players' Project, the Hammers duo helped to sort piles of toys and games at the Appeal’s headquarters, ready for them to be distributed across the borough in time for Christmas.
Ambition Aspire Achieve (AAA) is an official charity partner of West Ham United and delivers a wide range of projects and services from their two hubs and across local communities in Newham. Their work particularly focuses on and supports children and young people most in need, including those with disabilities or additional needs.
Part of their work in Newham is the Christmas Toy Appeal, now in its 46th year and named in honour of the charity’s founder, the late Kevin Jenkins OBE.
Each child supported will be experiencing the ravages of poverty each and every day, compounded by their own combination of multiple difficulties and challenges, such as poor and/or temporary accommodation, food hunger, poor wellbeing, emotional needs, educational underachievement, behavioural difficulties, disability and/or additional needs, being a victim of personal abuse, violence or bereavement. Without support, a Christmas Day to enjoy would not be possible.
AAA will be aiming to provide for each child a Christmas stocking of gifts specific to their age, needs, abilities and wherever possible, their most wished for gift to open on Christmas morning, allowing them to experience a real Christmas Day, rather than just another day the same as every other. This year, they are aiming to provide over 15,000 gifts to children in Newham.
A giving tree was placed at London Stadium before the men's first team took on Crystal Palace, where supporters were encouraged to bring gifts to donate to the appeal. Those gifts, along with items donated by the Club were brought along by Stringer and Ziu as they helped to sort and pack items.
And Stringer was pleased to be able to lend a helping hand and explained why she feels it is important to help those in need during the festive period.
"It was really special coming down to the Ambition, Aspire, Achieve headquarters today and seeing the work that's going in ahead of the big day.
"I think as athletes, we sometimes get stuck in our own worlds and you don't realise what's going on outside of your own routines of training and matches. Walking in today and seeing all of the toys and games piled high has made me realise just how important it is for all of us who are able to help out do so.
"It was great that we were able to bring donations in from the Club and our fans too, and I hope they will help bring some joy to the local community."
Ziu echoed the thoughts of her teammate and the importance of getting out into the community at this time of year.
"It was great to come out and witness all of the hard work that is put in by volunteers and staff at Ambition Aspire Achieve. It's always nice to come out as part of the Players' Project and see what's going on.
"It makes you realise how lucky you are to have grown up and not been in this situation, so it's great that people are able to help make 3000 kids' Christmas more cheerful."
Ambition Aspire Achieve chief executive Jonny Boux explained that support for the Appeal this year is even more important than ever before.
"The Kevin Jenkins OBE Newham Christmas Toy Appeal is now in its 46th year, and we've had lots of toys that have been sorted by our fantastic volunteers, which will happen right up until the 23rd. They're then ready to be bagged and put into stocking ready to go out.
"In many ways, the Toy Appeal is needed more than ever. In an ideal world, we would be seeing referrals going down, but we're actually seeing them go up. I think that reflects the need that many families in the borough are facing due to the cost of living crisis and increased hardship.
"West Ham United really help us to raise the profile of what we're doing as a charity. It was fantastic for them to set up the giving tree at London Stadium for the Crystal Palace game, and I was also able to tell supporters about the work that we do on the day.
There is still time to support the work that we're doing, either through out JustGiving page, or by heading to our website, theaaazone.com, and we're really thankful to anybody that is able to support us this year.
To support the Kevin Jenkins OBE Newham Christmas Toy Appeal, please click here to visit their JustGiving page, where any cash donations are converted into gifts to fill Christmas stockings and make a difference for Newham’s most disadvantaged, vulnerable and at-risk children.
