Cash for Kids launches Mission Christmas after giving gifts to almost 4,000 Portsmouth children in 2025
Cash for Kids South Coast has launched its Mission Christmas 2026 appeal at its South Coast Mission Christmas HQ at FatFace in Havant, calling on people and businesses in Portsmouth to help make sure every child wakes up to a gift on Christmas morning. Last year the appeal provided gifts to 3,993 children in Portsmouth, part of 14,300 children supported across the South Coast.
Applications for this year’s appeal opened on 14 September and already has seen more than 9,000 appeals for gifts, as rising pressures continue to hit family budgets across Portsmouth and the surrounding region.
The appeal was launched on Wednesday 21 October at Mission Christmas HQ, where gifts donated from across the South Coast are collected, sorted and distributed. From the warehouse, Cash for Kids staff and volunteers work to make sure presents reach the children who need them most, in time for Christmas, across Hampshire, Dorset & West Sussex.
Guests at the launch also saw a print of the Spinnaker Tower lit up pink for Cash for Kids Day earlier in 2026, captured by local photographer Penny Plimmer, which will now be auctioned online to raise money for the appeal.
“Christmas should be a magical time for every child, but for thousands of families on the South Coast it’s a time of real worry,” said Lisa Congdon, Cash for Kids Central South Coast manager. “Last year almost 4,000 children across Portsmouth woke up to a present because local people and businesses got behind Mission Christmas. More than 9,000 children have been applied for already, so we know the need this year is as great as last year. What’s raised locally stays local, so every gift will go direct to a child here on the South Coast.”
Nationally, Mission Christmas reached 304,690 children last year, with more than £16.9 million raised in gifts and cash, making it one of the largest Christmas gift appeals in the UK.
Local businesses, school, community groups and individuals can support the appeal by donating new, unwrapped gifts, buying from the Mission Christmas online gift list or making a cash donation. To donate gifts people should head to their local B&M or Wickes stores – those and other drop-off points open on 16 November.