how to help us

 

As a charitable organisation (Registered Charity Number 1190353), we rely 100% on fundraising and your generous donations. Almost every penny goes directly to buying beautiful and well thought out gifts for units across the country (a small proportion covers our running costs, such as this website). 

We spend time contacting each unit to ensure our gifts are appropriate for the individual young people and to get an idea of what their young people like to do day to day on the wards. 

Every single donation is massively appreciated. You can donate to our 2024 campaign here.

If you prefer to buy a gift instead of donating money, here’s our Amazon Wish List.

Information about donating gifts to a specific unit

If you would like to directly donate gifts to children and young people in CAMHS units please read the below information. You will need to contact your local CAMHS unit - have a look on our map of CAMHS units here. If you don’t see their details on the map, you can contact your local Mental Health NHS Trust, or contact us for information about your nearest CAMHS unit, to find out any requirements specific to that unit, including how many children and young people are there, and the age range.

If you would like to donate a large number of gifts for us to distribute to a number of CAMHS units (eg a corporate donation), please contact us - we would be happy to receive these.

If you would like to donate a few gifts for us to distribute, please consider donating directly to your nearest CAMHS unit, or contact us to discuss this. Please read the below lists to ensure your gifts would be suitable.

Information on donating directly to CAMHS UNITS

If you wish to donate gifts directly to a CAMHS unit, we recommend ensuring you donate enough gifts for all inpatients; there may be no other donors, so it is important not to leave any children out. If there are more children than you can provide for, consider getting together with some friends to put together enough gifts, or you could give a gift for everyone at the CAMHS unit to benefit from, such as games or craft materials (contact the unit to ask what is on their wish list). Alternately, you can donate to our funding and we will use this to provide gifts. 

What makes a great gift for a CAMHS unit?

  • Soft backed writing notebooks (without metal spirals)

  • Pens (without removal metal components such as springs)

  • Pencils

  • Colouring Books, including colouring in for mindfulness (adult colouring in books) and adult dot-to-dot books (without staples)

  • Reading Books

  • Card Games

  • Construction kits such as Lego

  • Jigsaws

  • Board Games

  • Pencil Cases

  • Sensory toys such as ‘squishies’

  • Origami kits

  • Shower gels and other shower products (no aerosols)

  • Art Kits (but ensuring these do not contain sharps such as pipe cleaners or pencil sharpeners) 

  • Paints

  • Craft Paper

  • Sticker Books

  • Scrap Books

  • Journals and Diaries (non spiral bound)

  • Memory boxes

  • Teddy Bears

  • Beauty products such as nail varnish, nail art kits, hand creams

 

What should not be donated?

  • Razors

  • Scissors (including nail scissors)

  • Metal craft wires

  • Pipe cleaners

  • Aerosols

  • Anything with rope or string

  • Anything sharp

  • Anything food based as many of our wards are eating disorder clinics (unless a particular CAMHS unit has requested food donations)

  • Pencil Sharpeners

  • Anything with staples or spiral bound books

  • Anything with magnets

Christmas for CAMHS
Registered Charity Number: 1190353