By Gabriel Princewill-
Action for children are today asking readers of The Eye Of Media.Com to generously donate christmas gifts to children in need of love and support this Christmas.
Action for Children pulls in roughly £17-£18 million annually from donations and legacies, with their 2024/25 figures showing around £17.86m in voluntary income, contributing to a total income of over £163 million, though the majority of their funds come from government contracts and charitable activities.
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The incredibly brilliant charity organisation caters for children in different parts of the Uk in need of assistance, including vulnerable children, those in residential and foster care, and countless other children in desperate need of support. Their support extends to children in early years, service for care leavers, and vulnerable children all over the country.
The charity’s frontline workers confirm pressure on struggling families is worse than last Christmas and highlight the desperate choices parents are being forced to make.
One worker reports helping a pregnant mum who “hadn’t eaten for three days as she was prioritising the food for her children”. Another describes young children spending a weekend scared in candlelit gloom as their parents had no money to top up the electricity.
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A spokesperson for Action for children told The Eye Of Media.Com: ” we are encouraging the generous British public to donate to help vulnerable children all over the UK. Thousands of families turn to Action for Children for support every year because there are several families struggling in different ways. The contribution of the Great British public is always of invaluable help to children in desperate need of help”
Almost 4,500 families – nearly 15,000 parents, children and young people – in financial hardship turned to Action for Children for crisis support over a 16-month period to October1, as the cost of living continues to bite in the run up to Christmas.
A quarter of applications for crisis help came from working families (25%) and one in seven were not claiming any means-tested benefits (15%). Frontline workers warn that beyond one-off grants, these families often have no other support.
Action for children said it is receiving an average of 300 applications a month for financial help on behalf of the families and young people supported by its services. Three quarters of frontline staff surveyed said families they support are facing greater financial pressures than last year.
The charity runs hundreds of services supporting children, young people and families across the UK. In order to support its annual Secret Santa campaign to help the country’s most vulnerable children, the charity has analysed data from its Family Fund, in partnership with Nationwide2, which provides crisis grants to help pay for essentials like food and clothes.
The research highlights the scale and urgency of hardship facing many families, brought into sharp focus by the government’s newly published Child Poverty Strategy.
Between 1 June 2024 and 30 September 2025, Action for Children gave out crisis grants totalling more than £800,000 to families across the UK:
Food was the biggest pressure (39% of spending) followed by home furnishings and repairs (20%), household appliances (12%) and clothing (10%) – with these four categories of essentials making up 80% of crisis support spending.
Over half of applications were for families in receipt of Universal Credit (52%).
The majority of applications were for families with one or two children (71%).
Almost half of applications were for single parent families (48%).
Action for Children also surveyed 173 of its frontline support workers to find out more about the reality facing families this winter.
76% said the financial pressures on the families or young people they support was worse than last year - including 34% who said it is much worse.
69% said they were currently supporting a child, young person or family experiencing poverty or extreme financial hardship.
One Action for Children family support workers anonymously said:
“I recently supported a family with a 9-year-old sleeping in a toddler bed as they weren’t in a position to buy a single bed due to the costs, and the family were already struggling to pay the basic household bills.”
“I worked with a single young mum working 30 hours a week who moved into a property with her 7-month-old son with very little… She had no furniture, no carpets, a sofa she was given that was full of fleas. Her son’s bedroom was just wooden floorboards and a cot in the middle… her wages covered the bills but not much else and she wasn’t entitled to any other support.”
“The families who are struggling the most are those not entitled to any Universal Credit or very little – they are just on the line. They do not get free school meals…they are on minimum wage jobs working all hours just to pay bills. It is always this group of families that get missed.”
The mental health impacts of financial hardship were also front and centre, with 71% of applications indicating the parent or young person was experiencing anxiety, stress or other mental health concerns linked to financial hardship. One in five applications (22%) said stress and anxiety from money worries was affecting the children’s mental health.
Another support worker said: “Children are worrying as they can see their parents trying to make ends meet, they’re not asking to go out with friends as they don’t want their parents to feel bad when they can’t give them pocket money.”
Brigitte Gater, Managing Director of Children’s Services at Action for Children, said:
“Action for Children’s Family Fund data lays bare the pain and devastating impact financial hardship is having on vulnerable families – and that doesn’t stop just because it’s Christmas.
“Our frontline staff are helping families every day who are trying their hardest and still can’t afford to put food on the table and keep their home warm. It’s particularly heart-breaking to hear of the negative mental health impacts of hardship on both parents and their children.
“The child poverty strategy is a serious step forward for families, particularly the scrapping of the two-child limit, something we’ve long campaigned for. But this change won’t come into effect until April 2026, and not all children in poverty will benefit from it. That’s why we’re asking the public to get behind our Secret Santa campaign to help us support our most vulnerable children.”
In order to become a Secret Santa and donate to Action for Children visit iamsanta.org.uk
Sarah’s daughter was supported by Action for Children’s Emoji Project in Wales, which helps children learn how to cope with their emotions and express themselves. Sarah does her best to shield her daughter from her money worries.
“Every month is a struggle to find money for food and bills – we get by through the skin of our teeth. When we were on a pay-as-you-go electricity meter, we both couldn’t afford to have a shower so I would often let my daughter have one whilst I went without. The moment she’s not in the house, all the heating goes off, and it doesn’t come back on until she is home. Unfortunately, with my disabilities, my condition gets worse when I’m cold, but I just have to deal with it. I will always put her first.
“Sadly, Christmas only adds to the anxiety and panic I feel as the cost is so expensive and naturally, I want to make I give her the best Christmas I can.”
Last Christmas, support workers from Action for Children were able to provide Sarah with a £250 supermarket voucher, as well as a brand-new bed and mattress for her daughter, through the charity’s Family Fund. Sarah said it made a huge difference.
“Being able to give my child her own bed to sleep in was the best Christmas gift I could have asked for. She had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor after her old bed, which was second or third hand, had broken. I sleep on the sofa, so I couldn’t even give her my bed. I felt so ashamed and like I was failing her. She wasn’t sleeping well, and in all honesty, neither was I. The stress and worry were enormous.
“The food voucher took a big strain off me mentally too. I didn’t need to worry about food that month, and it freed up money for other things, like heating. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”
New analysis of official figures shows that nearly one in five UK children (2.6million) are living in material deprivation, going without the basics like warmth, fresh food or a celebration this Christmas – with more than half (1.5million) under 10 years old.
The charity’s frontline workers confirm pressure on struggling families is worse than last Christmas and highlight the desperate choices parents are being forced to make.
One worker reports helping a pregnant mum who “hadn’t eaten for three days as she was prioritising the food for her children”. Another describes young children spending a weekend scared in candlelit gloom as their parents had no money to top up the electricity.
The public are encouraged to be a Secret Santa for Action for Children to help a vulnerable child.
As millions get set to celebrate Christmas, new Action for Children research finds around a third of children aged 8 to eighteen fear that a friend or classmate won’t get any presents (33%) or celebrate Christmas this year (32%) because their family can’t afford it.
The charity also worked with NatCen to analyse official government data on children living in material deprivation, collected before the worst of the cost of living crisis and energy price shock.
It found nearly one in five (18%) UK children – 2.6 million – are materially deprived, meaning their families can’t afford the basic items and activities that the Government considers essential to a happy and healthy childhood. Of these, more than half (58%) – 1.5 million – are under 10 years old.
The research also showed:
4.2 million children live in families that can’t save at least £10 a month (29%);
2.7 million have parents who can’t replace broken essential electrical goods such as a fridge or washing machine (19%);
1.2 million have parents who can’t keep up with bills (8%);
800,000 whose parents can’t afford to keep the house warm (5%);
700,000 who can’t afford to have friends around for dinner or a snack once a fortnight (5%);
300,000 children in families that can’t afford to eat fresh fruit or vegetables each day (2%); and
200,000* children are in families that can’t afford to go to a playgroup once a week (4%), or to celebrate on special occasions (2%).
For a deeper understanding of what poverty looks like for these children in the run up to Christmas, Action for Children carried out surveys last month with children aged 8 to eighteen, and with nearly 200 of its frontline workers.
Of the 2,004 UK children polled:
Around a third worry a friend or someone in their class or year group won’t get any presents (33%) because their family can’t afford it, or be able to celebrate Christmas this year (32%) due to money worries;
Three in ten (30%) worry a friend or classmate won’t have a warm home this winter because their family can’t afford to keep it heated;
More than a quarter (28%) worry a friend or classmate won’t have enough to eat or drink on a regular basis because their family can’t afford it; and
More than a fifth (22%) are concerned a friend or classmate won’t be able to visit their family this Christmas as they can’t afford to travel to see them.
Of nearly 200 Action for Children frontline workers surveyed:
Three-quarters (75%) said the current pressures on families and young people they support are worse than last year, with more than four in ten (43%) saying it’s much worse
A third (32%) said energy bills and three in ten (30%) said food costs were the biggest financial concerns among those they’re supporting right now. 15% of those surveyed said getting into – or deeper into – debt is a bigger concern this year compared to last (15% in 2023 vs 8% in 2022).
Trauma
One worker described having to step up her support of a pregnant mum who shared that she “hadn’t eaten for three days as she was prioritising the food for her children”. Another worker talked of a family with three children under 12 who spent a weekend in the dark as they had no money to buy electricity. The children told the support worker, “… it had been scary in the night with just candles for light”.
One “traumatised” young person was “so worried about not being able to afford their energy bills they [were] having cold showers, not using any heating, avoiding cooking and using the lights as little as possible.” Many Action for Children workers’ day jobs now increasingly include having to provide poverty relief before any other support, as one admitted that most of their time “is taken up by making sure the children have basic provisions and warm clothing.”
Paul Carberry, chief executive at Action for Children, said: “The magic of Christmas begins in childhood. But for children on the breadline up and down the UK, it’s anything but magical. How do you give a child a Christmas to remember when you’re going without food so they can eat? How can they experience the joy of Christmas if it’s just another day to go to bed hungry and to wake up cold?
“We’re seeing children without a bed sleeping on the floor with just blankets, and families phoning us crying because they have no money to feed their children. We know missing out on essentials like these can scar a child’s whole life. This is why the UK Government must do more for them during this brutal and ongoing cost of living crisis, as well as deliver ambitious policies to end child poverty for good.
“The Chancellor talks about making work pay but our research(1) shows that almost two million children in poverty live in families where their parents face at least one significant barrier to work, such as a disability, being a carer, or being a lone parent trying to balance work with looking after a young child.
“Until every family has enough money to keep their child warm and well fed, we will continue to help them. That’s why we’re asking the public to get behind our Secret Santa campaign to help us support our most vulnerable children, not just at Christmas but every day.”
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