Christmas Gifts For Children In Direct Provision

One third of all asylum seekers living in Direct Provision in Ireland are children. Today, there are around 2000 children living in accommodation centres across the country, for time periods ranging from less than one year to seven years.

Here in Cork, there are almost 300 children, split between centres in Kinsale Road, Glounthaune, Clonakilty, Millstreet and Mallow.

Last year, our group asked the people of Cork to open their hearts and their wallets to help us give children living in Direct Provision centres across the county the Christmas they deserve.

Having met the wonderful families, many of whom live in circumstances that deny them the basic autonomy of deciding what to cook for dinner, we knew that giving the mothers of these gorgeous children the power to purchase their children gifts would be a small way of empowering them.

Our idea is simple; we want to give every Mum living in Direct Provision centres €50 per child to purchase Christmas gifts for their kids. Most of these women haven’t had the opportunity to shop for their kids in years – most of the children wouldn’t dare to dream that they might receive the toy they want the most this Christmas

Last year, every child in a DP centre in Cork was gifted something special from their parents, and it was thanks to you. This year, we want to do it again. Rather than run different fundraisers per centre, we are consolidating it all here, and will post updates below as we go. Please help us to show our friends in Direct Provision the support and community values that we value so much in Cork.