Christmas should be a time to share. As we closed our Magic of Christmas programme in 2025, we thanked the businesses, volunteers and supporters who helped make that possible for nearly 1,000 local people.
Our programme provided 233 family Christmas Dinner Packs, delivering 932 plated Christmas dinners. We distributed over 2.3 tonnes of food — equivalent to more than 15,000 food portions, including meals, desserts and treats.
Through Secret Santa, more than 1,200 brand-new toys went to local children. Father Christmas’s Toy Workshop also found new homes for over 500 pre-loved toys, keeping them out of landfill and helping children share in the season.
Each dinner pack was designed for a family of four. Families were asked to contribute £10 where possible, against an average real cost of £36. We provided 21 packs entirely free, delivering more than £6,000 in direct food subsidy before logistics, storage and coordination.
VolkerFitzpatrick’s contributions and Luke from Ballycommon bringing supplies towards the Christmas packs are two examples of the practical help behind the programme. Staff from partner organisations also collected, sorted and delivered food and toys.
We recorded 220 evidenced volunteer hours covering packing, sorting, safeguarding, logistics and professional input, including help from supply-chain partners. Using the valuation bands in our supporter report — £15, £25 and £45 per hour for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled contributions — these hours represented £5,100 in volunteer-contributed community value.
Additional unpaid help from partner staff was not included in that valuation because those hours could not be accurately evidenced. Our update to supporters on 24 December 2025 reported a conservative direct community value of more than £22,500, before wider benefits such as wellbeing, dignity and reduced financial stress.
Behind every figure are people who gave time, contributed supplies and helped get things ready for families. On behalf of everyone at Project40Seven: thank you for sharing the Magic of Christmas.
