The charity, Little Troopers, has sent 170 special Christmas boxes to military children in Shropshire who have parents serving overseas with the Armed Forces this Christmas.
The initiative is part of the charity’s Christmas Smiles campaign, which recognises that December is often the hardest time of year for children to be separated from their serving parent, and missing out on magical Christmas moments such as school performances, Santa visits, family get-togethers and the big day itself.
Working closely alongside the welfare team at Clive Barracks to reach the families most in need, the Little Troopers boxes includes resources and activities to help children cope with parental separation, as well as treats and stocking fillers to raise a smile.
Little Troopers is a national charity dedicated to supporting service children and has sent out 2,500 Christmas Smiles boxes across the country this year.
Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, comments: “Christmas Smiles is such an important annual campaign for our charity. Being separated from your parent at Christmas is hard and we want to get our resources to as many children as possible and help them to feel recognised and supported, as well as spreading some Christmas smiles. A big thank you to 1 Royal Irish for helping us to get the boxes to your families. We hope they make a real difference to your families.”
Last year, 7,000 service personnel were deployed on military operations over Christmas and it’s expected that a similar number will be serving overseas this year. As 72% of service personnel have at least one child under 18, it means thousands of military children across the UK will be missing their parent on Christmas morning.
The Little Troopers Christmas Smiles boxes have been made possible thanks to funding from BAE Systems and VIVO Defence Services.
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