Sharing joy with our community at Christmas

During Christmas 2022, Anglicare was able to bless many people in our community who are doing it tough, thanks to supporters like you.

The Toys ‘n’ Tucker Christmas appeal raised enough funds for our teams to create almost 4,000 toy hampers – with each containing a range of age appropriate gifts for children. We also helped more than 5,000 families with food for Christmas – either through providing food hampers, or grocery store vouchers so they could purchase their own items.

The highlight for many families was attending a special distribution day in their community. Anglicare’s Nathan Moulds, who handles logistics for Toys ‘n’ Tucker, attended one of these events and saw the difference these gifts made.

“There was just a sense of gratitude everywhere I looked,” Nathan reports. “People were telling us they’d been doing it really tough and this would really help.”

“One gentleman I spoke to was getting gifts for his grandkids and a food hamper for himself. He was saying he was finding it so difficult at Christmas, and that he’s not someone who had accessed our support before.

“He was really grateful for the warm welcome he received and said it made him feel really cared for.”

As well as helping meet the needs of people at Christmas, Toys ‘n’ Tucker also helps people in the community connect with Anglicare staff, or local church members, and learn about some of the other ways we can help.

“You start to talk to someone about their life and their situation and might be able to say, ‘In the new year, let’s help you tackle that debt, or work through that issue’,” Nathan explains.

“These conversations open up opportunities for people to come back to Anglicare in the new year and to have new hope and new resolutions to work towards.”