The teams at ClearDebt and Abacus took a different approach to this year’s office Secret Santa, read on to find out more!

If where you work is anything like where I work, each Christmas, we all take part in “Secret Santa”. We pick a name out of a hat and buy something for that person – normally a mug, some soap or maybe a hat and gloves. Creative, I know…

But this year, we’ve been working with Rainbow Trust – a charity which offers support to terminally ill children and their families. Bearing in mind the work they do and the people they help, we decided to organise a “Secret Santa” campaign that will actually make a difference to someone – to be exact, 196 someones.

This year, each member of our staff contributed to a fund which raised a total of £400. Rainbow Trust provided us with a list of the age and gender of 196 children who they support in the Greater Manchester area – some of whom are terminally ill and their siblings.

From the details provided, we worked with Tesco Altrincham to source the first 100 gifts; a huge thanks goes out to them and their Community Champion, Lisa. A selected member of the Tesco team designated to help worthy causes in the local area.

We then scoured the local shops in Altrincham for the remaining 96 gifts which were wrapped and labelled for each age and gender, and collected by the Rainbow Trust representatives.

Not only have we provided the gifts for these children but we also agreed to cover the cost of the postage.

It’s at this time of year that I think it’s important to evaluate our contribution to other people’s lives – what we do with our life outside of our everyday routine which makes a difference to others. I’m proud to be a part of this campaign which enables every member of staff at ClearDebt, Abacus and ClearCash to be proud of taking a few coins from their wallets to think of others and help make a difference.

On Christmas morning, families across Greater Manchester saw gifts for their children which arrived without condition or cost. This year, we have in true essence become “Secret Santas” to the children of Rainbow Trust. If you don’t know much about the work of Rainbow Trust, why not tune into the Rainbow Trust Youtube Channel to understand why we chose to get involved.