Ambition Aspire Achieve
Ambition Aspire Achieve is a grassroots charity providing inclusive opportunities and experiences for children and young people in the London Borough of Newham, helping them to flourish and reach their full potential. Delivering a range of activities, services and targeted interventions from its play and youth hubs, the charity supports over 950 young people every year, over 80% of whom are considered vulnerable or disadvantaged, including many with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND). The Story of Christmas is providing essential funding to help transform the main youth hall at its flagship centre, the Terence Brown Arc in the Park in Canning Town. This investment will enable vital refurbishment works, improved lighting and decoration, and the creation of welcoming, therapeutic spaces, including a reading corner and calm area, ensuring the hall remains a safe, inspiring and accessible environment for vulnerable children and young people for many years to come.
Baron’s Court Project in association with CRASH
Barons Court Project is the only day centre in Hammersmith & Fulham for people experiencing homelessness and mental health conditions, supporting around 700 guests each year. It provides a safe, welcoming space where individuals can find stability, dignity and connection — whether they are without a secure home or struggling with their mental wellbeing. The Project helps lay the foundations for recovery, resilience and renewed independence. The Story of Christmas is helping Barons Court Project to convert its attic into a bespoke art studio and wellbeing room for therapeutic and group activities, to extend its laundry room to double capacity and to create a second sitting-room and library where guests can relax. These improvements will increase seating capacity by 45%, creating a more welcoming environment and ensuring the Project can continue providing vital support to the local community for the next 40 years and beyond.
Brent Centre for Young People
Founded in 1967, the Brent Centre for Young People (BCYP) has been a pioneering force in adolescent mental health, providing life-changing therapeutic services to young people and their families facing emotional and psychological distress. Established by leading psychoanalysts who recognised adolescence as a crucial window for lasting change, BCYP ensures young people receive mental health support before they reach crisis, helping to prevent long-term difficulties and to strengthen the support network around them. Operating in underserved communities across Northwest London (Brent, Westminster, Ealing, Harrow and Kensington & Chelsea), the charity delivers services in schools, the youth justice system, social care teams, community hubs and from its clinics. It supports over 800 young people a year, as well as their parents, families and the professional networks around them. The charity owns the freehold of its headquarters in Brent, where The Story of Christmas is financing a complete renovation of the entire building.
Cardinal Hume Centre
Based in Westminster, the Cardinal Hume Centre supports over 1,400 people each year, including children, families and young adults, through long-term solutions that address poverty and prevent homelessness. The Centre also provides on-site supported accommodation for up to 39 young people aged 16–24, who typically live in the hostel for around two years, with 24/7 support. Many have experienced significant adversity, including time in care, family breakdown, abuse or displacement due to conflict. Following the successful refurbishment of one kitchen in the hostel, The Story of Christmas will support the renovation of a second kitchen. This improved space will provide a welcoming, high-quality environment that promotes independence, a sense of community and personal development, while offering a safe and supportive setting for the young residents.
Cherry Trees
Rate ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, Cherry Trees is a specialist children’s home providing short-break respite care for children and young people aged 0–19 with complex disabilities across Surrey and neighbouring counties. For 46 years, the charity has supported some of the most vulnerable families, offering a safe, nurturing home-from-home environment where children can enjoy positive experiences while families gain vital rest and reassurance. Thanks to funding from The Story of Christmas, Cherry Trees will create a new sensory room designed to reduce anxiety, support communication and enable children with complex disabilities to engage and thrive. Using immersive projection, lighting, sound and assistive technology, the space will provide a calming, fully accessible environment where every child can make choices and interact meaningfully during their short-break care.
Haven House Children’s Hospice
Haven House Children’s Hospice cares for babies, children and young people who have a life-limiting or life-threatening condition. The charity’s mission is to provide the highest quality paediatric palliative and holistic care services, when and where families most need them. All services are provided at no cost to families and are delivered at the Haven House Woodford Green Hospice in East London and in family homes, schools and hospitals across Northeast London, West Essex and East Hertfordshire. The Story of Christmas is funding the new Woodland Therapy Room where seriously sick children and their families can receive life enhancing therapies surrounded by the sounds, smells and sights of nature. Within the beautiful four-acre grounds of Haven House Children’s Hospice, this therapy room will be used to deliver specialised therapies including accessible yoga therapy for children who have physical disabilities, bereavement therapy and counselling for children, siblings and parents.
Justlife
Justlife supports people experiencing homelessness in temporary accommodation in Manchester and Brighton, often in B&Bs and hostels where isolation, poor conditions and trauma are part of daily life. Alongside frontline support, Justlife campaigns nationally for long-term change so that temporary accommodation is short, safe and healthy. With the help of The Story of Christmas, Justlife will build a fully insulated garden pod at its Manchester Centre, creating a calm and confidential space for one-to-one support. The pod will offer privacy, dignity and hope to people facing homelessness at some of the most difficult points in their lives.
Over the Wall
Over The Wall Camp (OTWC) is a UK charity dedicated to supporting children and families affected by serious long‑term health conditions. Founded in 1999, OTWC provides free, medically-supported residential camps which help children rediscover the joy, confidence and connection that illness can take away. OTWC’s camps are fully accessible and designed to help children overcome isolation, build self-esteem and resilience, and develop new skills. OTWC is creating its first permanent home at Ockbrook Camp in Derbyshire, a place designed specifically to meet the needs of children living with illness and to give thousands more the chance to experience a childhood defined not by treatment, but by possibility. The Story of Christmas is helping to bring this vision to life by funding a climbing wall within a new climbing range at Ockbrook Camp. For OTWC’s beneficiaries, climbing is about far more than physical activity. Many of these children have spent years being told what they cannot do – climbing gently turns that message on its head. Thanks to the support of The Story of Christmas, countless children will have the chance to climb higher than they ever thought possible and carry that belief back into everyday life.
Prospex
Prospex is a vibrant youth charity transforming the lives of vulnerable young people aged 8 to 21 years living in Islington’s most deprived areas. The charity engages and supports young people through tailored programmes and new experiences that otherwise would not be available to them — ranging from mental health counselling, creative arts projects and outdoor adventures. Prospex creates safe spaces through street-based detached work and building-based Youth Hubs, where young people can thrive, explore and envision brighter futures beyond adversity. The Story of Christmas award will cover the cost of purchasing a new minibus which will enable vulnerable young people to escape their immediate urban environment and experience the great outdoors. Being outdoors has both physical and mental health benefits for young people, helping to reduce stress, build confidence and improve wellbeing. They can learn new skills, connect with nature and, for some, these trips and camps are life truly changing experiences.
Restore the Music
Restore the Music (RTM) is addressing the problem facing schools in high deprivation areas by turning around levels of attendance and attainment for young people growing up in extreme poverty. With a targeted approach, putting music departments back into schools is the goal and the RTM School Music Award programme is a proven model for improving educational outcomes on cohorts with over half the students entitled to free School Meals. Thanks to total distribution to date of more than 30,000 instruments to 170 schools, RTM is delivering a seismic impact on the educational landscape for 4-18yr olds growing up in poverty. Over 125,000 young people have benefitted so far and demand for RTM support from eligible schools grows exponentially. A well-equipped music department, with hands-on music-making facilities, is the defining factor in reversing the trend and bringing children back into mainstream education. With that comes an increased aptitude to engage, learn and succeed. That is the pathway out of poverty. The Story of Christmas is funding a new music department at a school in Birmingham.
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity
Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity supports seriously sick children across the UK through the provision of specialist nurses and practical support. The Story of Christmas is funding the capital costs of the Marvellous Pill School, which creates child-friendly learning kits which help children understand and take medication calmly and confidently. By transforming one of the most distressing parts of treatment into a positive and empowering experience, the project helps children feel more independent and secure in their everyday care.
Royal British Veterans Enterprise (RBVE)
RBVE is a national charity that empowers disadvantaged veterans and people with disabilities to rebuild independent and fulfilling lives through safe homes, meaningful employment and tailored welfare support. The charity provides homes, creates jobs and builds communities. Founded in 1919 it has always believed that recovery is about creating opportunity. On RBVE’s 75-acre site in Kent, there are over 300 homes for veterans and their families, including emergency accommodation for veterans finding themselves at their lowest. Support from The Story of Christmas will enable vital roof repairs and internal refurbishment at Mountbatten Pavilion, RBVE’s emergency accommodation for veterans in crisis and facing homelessness.
Run Kids Run
Run Kids Run aims to bridge the funding gap in state primary schools by connecting them with corporate sponsors through community running events. These ensure that schools, serving disadvantaged communities, gain access to vital funding, helping them enrich education and tackle persistent inequalities in the state system. With this support, schools can set bold improvement goals and turn their visions into reality. The Story of Christmas funding will support the refurbishment of a school library in Islington, transforming it into a vibrant hub for learning and creativity. This fully flexible space will develop pupils’ learning experiences, strengthen engagement and enhance their enthusiasm for books.
The Sick Children’s Trust
Every year The Sick Children’s Trust provides over 3,200 families who have a critically sick child in hospital with a vital ‘Home from Home’ at what is a truly traumatic and distressing time. The Story of Christmas is supporting The Sick Children’s Trust to refurbish completely one of its ‘Homes from Home’ – Acorn House in Cambridge, ensuring it is modernised, welcoming and comfortable for all the families who need it. The Trust will also introduce an innovative day-pass scheme allowing families, who cannot stay overnight, to access the ‘Home from Home’ during the day. The day-pass scheme will give parents and carers a safe, calm place away from the ward where they can rest, prepare food, do laundry, and receive emotional support from trained staff, while remaining close to their sick child’s bedside.
The Special Reconnaissance Regimental Association
The Special Reconnaissance Regimental Association (SRRA) is welfare-focused, providing members – both former and serving – with a discreet and trusted network of support for themselves and their immediate family. With the support of The Story of Christmas, SRRA will be able to supply each soldier’s family with a Toniebox so that it can begin to transform the emotional experience of deployment for children through reducing stress, strengthening family bonds and fostering resilience.
St Christopher’s Fellowship
St Christopher’s Fellowship, established in 1870, works with children and young people in care, providing fostering, residential and support services to help create brighter futures. The Story of Christmas has provided amazing support and transformation over the years, and St Christopher’s is thrilled that continuing support will help to transform the garden at one of its homes in Southwest London. The home is an eight-bed semi-independent home for young people preparing to make the transition from the care system to independent living. The team offers support in developing life skills, staying safe, obtaining work and education, and space to explore fun activities. The home has a massive garden and the young people are really excited its transformation. St Christopher’s will create a wildlife space with hedgehog houses and some log piles for stag beetles and other insects, together with a pond for water wildlife. The new garden will be easy to maintain, with a lawn, neat with flowers around the edges and a proper storage shed with space for bike storage. Wooden decking and seating will finish the plan and allow the charity to host activities allowing it to create positive memories of the home and for young people to grow some of their own food.
Starlight
Starlight is the UK’s leading charity for children’s play in hospitals, hospices and healthcare settings. For a child, hospital can feel frightening, isolating and overwhelming, and treatment can be painful and traumatic. Play is not a luxury in these moments: it is a powerful, evidence-based tool that reduces fear, eases pain and helps children cope with treatment and recovery. It protects mental health, supports physical wellbeing and builds resilience – something that matters even more at Christmas, when as many as 150,000 children will spend the festive season in hospital. With support from The Story of Christmas, Starlight will distribute toys around hospitals across the UK – helping to ensure that, even in hospital, children can experience joy, connection and the magic of childhood.
Tim Henman Foundation
Tim Henman Foundation is a charity with the mission of creating opportunities that support and inspire children and young people to reach their potential. It delivers sport and education programmes focused on children with special educational needs and disabilities, and those from low-income backgrounds. With generous support from The Story of Christmas, the Foundation will fund the creation of a high-quality, inclusive playground environment at Chestnut Park Primary School, providing lasting physical, social and developmental benefits for disadvantaged children.
