The Women in Rail team launches a Reverse Advent Calendar initiative to help support those in needs during the holiday season.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on vulnerable people and families in need and regrettably these struggles are likely to be exacerbated during the festive period.

Similarly, charities are finding it hard to provide for the people they seek to support. The Trussell Trust, for example, forecast a 61% increase in food parcels needed across its UK Foodbank network from October to December. That is six parcels handed out every minute.

To support the UK’s most vulnerable people and struggling families during the holiday season, Women in Rail is launching a Reverse Advent Calendar initiative.

Creating a Reverse Advent Calendar involves putting aside, each day for 24 days, an essential item in a box or basket wrapped in gift paper and when the box or basket is full, delivering it to a local food bank, care home, refuge or charity to be distributed to less fortunate people and families ahead of Christmas.

Items can include dried and tinned food, nappies, coffee, UHT milk, toiletries and feminine hygiene products, household cleaning items and chocolate treats, depending on the organisation to be donated to. You can even add a teddy bear and a homemade card!

Everyone, individuals, families and companies can take part in the Women in Rail Reverse Advent Calendar initiative. It is a wonderful way to show that the railway family cares about its communities and to help provide much needed support, and perhaps also recreate some of the wonder and magic of Christmas, to struggling families and those in need during the festive period.

Women in Rail encourages anyone taking part in this initiative to share pictures of their Reverse Advent Calendar and any inspirational story on social media using the hashtags #WRCares and #WRReverseAdventCalendar.

Many charities, care homes and foodbanks will accept your gifts and donations and organise for them to be delivered to struggling and vulnerable people and families. You may want to get in touch with your chosen organisation before starting to fill in your Reverse Advent Calendar to check which items are urgently needed and, when donating your box, provide details of its content so it can be donated to those who need it most.

To find out more about the Women in Rail Reverse Advent Calendar initiative and join the teams supporting it, please contact Vicky at vicky@nimblemedia.co.uk.

Thank you very much for supporting this Women in Rail initiative.

Best wishes,

The Women in Rail Team
wr@womeninrail.org