Child Friendly Warwickshire

For over 25 years, Norma has created hampers for young people who have recently left care and asylum seekers who now live alone without family support. For those without families, Christmas can be a lonely and difficult time, and many do not receive any gifts at all, with the cost of living crisis presenting additional pressures for many this year.

Norma used to be a foster carer for Warwickshire County Council (WCC), fostering over 130 children and young people and working in the community supporting young people and fostering families. She started putting together a few Christmas hampers for care leavers 25 years ago in Rugby, but over the last couple of years the number has snowballed to well over two hundred! As well as Christmas gifts, the hampers also contain essentials such as socks, gloves, soups, toothbrushes and anything else that might be of use, from festive goodies to household provisions. Some of the hampers go to young people with babies and donations such as hand-knitted cardigans, hats and gloves are included in the boxes. Norma also includes a Christmas card in each of the hampers signed ‘From Norma, and people who care.’

Norma’s hampers in numbers…

2014 – 62 hampers

2015 – 100 hampers

2016 – 145 hampers

2017 – 175 hampers

2018 – 219 hampers and a feature on BBC News!

2020 – 230 hampers

2022 – 250 hampers!

Over the years Norma has gathered a following and a steady stream of donations come in from neighbours, friends, work colleagues and local businesses including charities, footballs clubs and supermarkets. The hampers fill almost every available space in her home, and she starts putting them together from October before they are sent out across the county in the run-up to Christmas.

She has been overwhelmed by the positive response from people, and said: “It is a privilege to put these hampers together for the county’s young people who have little support at this time of year. The gifts are always well-received and it brings great joy just to be able to brighten up their day with a hamper that brings a smile to their face and makes a small difference.

“Thank you so much to everybody who has helped this year. This is the best year ever and I can't believe it, I thought it was going to be the worst year but it's not, it's the best! This might be the only thing the young people get at Christmas, so thank you to everybody." 

Child Friendly Warwickshire would like to give a shout out to our colleagues in the Children and Families’ Voice, Influence and Change team, and our CFW Friends – Evelyn’s Gift and Morrisons Leamington Spa. Child Friendly Warwickshire donated over £400 to enable food to be purchased for the hampers, but a team of people helped pull it all together. A special mention also goes to Warwickshire Search and Rescue who transported the goodies to Norma’s home.

L-R: Abbey from the CFW team, Deborah from the Quality & Impact team and Liss, Family Support Worker, standing in front of a trolley full of goodies in Morrisons Leamington Spa.

Liss Phillips, Family Support Worker, said: “Being care experienced myself, I have received Norma's hampers in the past and I can't tell you just how much this meant to me; enough that I feel very privileged to be supporting with the hampers this year. It was an amazing opportunity to be able to give back and support others like me, as these hampers remind care experienced young people that there are people thinking of them.”

Warwickshire County Councillor, Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services said: “The council takes its role of corporate parent very seriously and this does not stop when our young people leave care. We put children at the heart of everything we do, and what Norma does is such an amazing example of this.

“Becoming a young adult can be a challenging time, harder still if you have grown up without family and are navigating the world alone. The effort and contribution that Norma has made to our care leavers and asylum seekers across Warwickshire over the last 25 years is simply outstanding.

“Her commitment to providing something special for vulnerable young people at Christmas is incredible and we cannot thank Norma enough for everything she does.”

Sharon Shaw, Corporate Parenting Service Manager and Alex, Morrisons Leamington Community Champion, managing the checkout!

Sharon Shaw, Corporate Parenting Service Manager, commented: "Christmas will be a challenging time this year for many of our care experienced and care leaving young people, but with the help of Norma Wilson - who, every year, provides a huge amount of hampers for our young people to give them extra special treats at Christmas, and support from Morrisons, who've helped us throughout the year - we'll be able to provide a large number of our young people, through Child Friendly Warwickshire, with hampers that they'll be able to enjoy and will make their Christmas extra special. We want to thank everybody who has helped put these hampers together."

Norma’s act of kindness is one example of the many things people can do to support themselves and each other. For other ideas about showing kindess this festive season, and supportive tips for your wellbeing over the winter months, please follow the WCC advent calendar at warwickshire.gov.uk/adventcalendar or follow the council on Instagram @bestwarwickshire.

For more information about leaving care, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/leavingcare. For more information on young asylum seekers, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/children-families/unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children-warwickshire/1. If you would like to find out more about fostering for Warwickshire, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fostering.