An Ayrshire charity received more than £200,000 in donations – ensuring no child was left without presents at Christmas.
The Night Before Christmas Campaign (NB4CC) confirmed the major haul after a year which saw them migrate to new premises for their seventh fundraiser.
And it proved to be lucky number seven for NB4CC as they delivered to 5,191 children and brought in an incredible £207,640 in donations.
Those donations made up of toys and other gifts were delivered by 62 voluntary ‘elves’ who dedicated their time to making the festive season magical for those without.
Mum Jodie McFarlane, who runs the charity, told Ayrshire Live: “It has been amazing this year by far the biggest yet.
“I had to take a double take when I calculated all the donations that had come in. To be nearly at a quarter of a million pounds is just fantastic and it shows how far we’ve come.
“We put a lot of focus into getting as many referrals from across Ayrshire this year. We reached out to people in the north, south and east, getting more referrals in from places like Cumnock and Kilmarnock.
“We worked really closely with Open Doors in Kilmarnock who were able to put us in touch with families who needed help. We dealt with health visitors, social workers, and school teachers.
“We had school teachers breaking their hearts in tears asking if we could help them to make sure children had something for Christmas.
“One of our local donors gave us a new bike which meant a wee boy got a brand-new bike for Christmas instead of nothing at all. It is things like that which make it all worth it.”
Jodie started the charity after her daughter Tygan, now 18, sparked the idea when she asked if every child had a Christmas Eve box to open.
Determined to make a difference, Jodie started collecting Christmas Eve boxes and delivering them to families who had fallen on hard times.
The charity then went on from strength to strength with donations of gifts pouring in. Gifts were stored at first in a unit in the Kyle Centre before moving to Tsukure Hub on Ayr High Street.
But with the stairs becoming a hassle for volunteers, Jodie decided to relocate the headquarters again to Annbank Community Hall.
Jodie said: “This year has just been chaos, the run up to Christmas was frantic getting everything organised.
“I was still up at 6pm sorting out deliveries to go out.
“It’s worked out a lot better for us to be based here, the campaign really took off to another level.”
Jodie had the help of businesses such as bus firm Stagecoach and medicine manufacturer Glaxosmithkline.
The charity also rushed to the aid of victims of the Kincaidston explosion by providing voluntary support on the night.
Jodie added: “The NB4CC is now becoming what I wanted it to be, it is really well backed as a concept and people are seeing the difference we are making to local kids.”
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