PKAVS 12 Days of Christmas Appeal

Get your Christmas Spirit at the ready because local charity, PKAVS, has started a very unselfish – or #unselfie – Christmas appeal and they’re calling on the people of Perth and Kinross to help!

If you don’t know about PKAVS and their work, then you may be surprised to learn that this is a local charity that works solely to support people living in Perth & Kinross. They are the volunteers and staff who carry out the vital role in helping those folks who often fly under the radar unnoticed and unhelped.

Their aim is simple. To make life a little easier for people facing daily challenges. PKAVS helps those without support feel less alone, makes people believe they can overcome their personal barriers to achieve their goals. It’s not big, earth-shaking things that they do; it’s a million little things that add up to make a big, earth-shaking difference to the people in their care.

From city centre shopmobility to help those who are less-able get out and enjoy a day in town, to users of the wonderful Walled Garden at Murray Royal and the young carers whose childhoods are being interrupted daily with responsibilities beyond their years, PKAVS brings care and help to people who often blend into the background, their needs invisible to others around them.

These are people who live on your doorstep, go to school with your children, work in your local shop. Their needs may not stand out as obvious at first but they are very real and without a support network such as PKAVS they would remain unnoticed and unhelped.

I know all you wonderful #SCBP readers are going to line up to help but before you do here’s a little snapshot of how PKAVS help people living in our small city.

• Stephen who was turned away from joining his local football club because they couldn’t support someone with a mental illness. PKAVS helped Stephen feel accepted.
• Deepa who is South Asian and was a victim of domestic abuse and suffering in silence. Knowing that we understood her culture and spoke her language,Deepa reached out to PKAVS to help her family.
• Kenneth who was made redundant from his job and found it difficult to find employment. PKAVS connected Kenneth to a volunteering role as a stepping-stone back to employment.
• Samantha who is nine years’ old and cares for her young sister who has cerebral palsy. Samantha struggles to concentrate at school and longs to have time to take part in after-school activities and hobbies like her friends. PKAVS helps Samantha be a child first, and a carer second.

With your help, PKAVS are looking to raise £12,000 and together we will all change lives this Christmas.

The 12 Days of Christmas Appeal has been launched today and they want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to get involved. They have 12 cracking ideas that are as simple as an #unselfie selfie and as deliciously tasty as a Christmas bake sale!

A little kindness can change lives. Please help PKAVS change lives this Christmas.

#Unselfie

Get involved by simply donating to PKAVS and posting a selfie online telling everyone why. Encourage your friends to do the same and get our #unselfie trending! text PKAV14 and your donation amount to 70070 e.g. PKAV14 £10. I’ve done mine – check out my antlers!

12 Christmas Champions

They are looking for 12 champions to promote PKAVS and raise funds. They want you to tell 12 people about the great work that they do, and ask if they would be generous enough to each donate £12 to our cause.

Dress-Down Day

Everyone loves a dress-down day. You could even theme yours and have everyone wear their favourite Christmas jumper.

Matched Funding

Have a whip round at your work and ask your company to match what you raise. Just make sure your employer agrees first! #SCBP will post and share all companies pics and amounts to their facebook page!

Last Hour’s Pay

Before you clock-off for the holidays, donate your last hour’s pay before Christmas and encourage colleagues to do the same.

Ready, Set, BAKE!

Organise your own Bake Off and have a team of lucky judges decide who will be crowned the Christmas Bake Off Challenge Champion. I’m calling Graeme The Cake to my team!

Bake Sale

Following your Bake Off, sell the remaining cakes at your own Christmas Bake Sale.

Santa’s Little Helpers Auction

Organise a team of willing volunteers who are available to offer a helping hand for a day at the office, and then auction them off to the highest bidder.

Christmas Fair

Seek out your creative friends and organise a Christmas Fair selling festive goodies. Remember that our Christmas Fair at the Walled Garden is on 6th December so keep that date free!

How many points does a snowflake have?

Pub quizzes are always a great laugh so why not organise your own with a Christmassy twist. I’m thinking the Quiz Master Extraordinaire, Mr Chic Dougan of the Abbostford Lounge Bar may need to be called upon!

Christmas ECards

Encourage friends and family to send free ECards this Christmas and donate what they would normally spend on cards and postage to PKAVS.

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly…”

Get your musical friends together for an evening of carol singing. Spread some festive cheer and help gather donations for PKAVS.

All you have to do is pick one idea and round up a team of helpers.  If you do decide to get involved then you can register your 12 Days of Christmas fundraising pledge with PKAVS and they’ll supply t-shirts and collecting tins, and help promote your event on their social media.

Contact them on 01738 567076 or email fundraising@pkavs.org.uk to register your pledge.  

If you’d like to help but find yourself super busy already, then simply donate straight to the Christmas Appeal today. You can donate online now or text PKAV14 and your donation amount to 70070 e.g. PKAV14 £10.

Lastly, share this page and tell others about the wonderful way they can help Perth & Kinross this Christmas. 

VISIT THE PKAVS WEBSITE FOR A FUNDRAISING KIT NOW! 

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A personal note from me:

Regular readers might recognise PKAVS as the charity headed up by one of our early Big Personalities, Helen McKinnon. I love this charity for lots of reasons. My Auntie Sylvia used shopmobility to get about after her heart-attack and it was amazing to see her zipping round the city centre, enjoying life. People very dear and very near to me have suffered mental health issues – 1 in 4 of us will – and The Walled Garden has played a part in more than one recovery.  My childhood was wonderful, as was my son’s;  the life of a young carer is vastly different to anything anyone of us can imagine. 

Let’s all help and make a Christmas difference in our small city!  N X