Thank you so much to everyone who supported our Christmas Appeal Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of new toys, books and food was donated to Christmas Should Be About More Than Survival – the biggest response yet to our Christmas appeal. The donations were distributed through our community shop where families could purchase toys for their children free, and to agencies in Manchester and Salford working with struggling families with young children. Donations came from all sections of the community – city centre businesses and professional firms, church toy services, schools in both affluent and deprived areas, parents whose children asked them to support our Appeal rather than buy them a gift, and former service users who remember receiving a toy from ‘the Mission’ as a small child many years ago. We are also extremely grateful to the hundreds of volunteers who donated their time to help us sort through donations and deliver our festive activities throughout December. Christmas should be about more than survival and thanks to the generosity of our supporters it is for thousands of local children who miss out on the other 364 days of the year. Pictured above: Jennie McAlpine, who plays Fiz in Coronation Street, handing over donations to fundraiser Sophie Bell and Centre Manager Des Lynch