The Business Design Centre, Islington Giving, Angel Islington BID, and Angel Central shopping centre are pulling together – to create exclusive handmade ‘Angel Crackers’
The proceeds from the crackers will help fund Islington Giving’s Winter Appeal to help tackle loneliness by supporting incredible local organisations that offer support to local residents at this time of year.
The crackers include a conversation starter, a fascinating fact about Angel, a paper hat, a Christmas Blend tea bag and a special gift curated by After Noah.
In an exciting Christmas twist – 1 in 30 crackers have a hidden golden ticket tucked inside – which involves a fantastic prize from one of the campaign’s valued supporters. The prize mix includes experiences, meals and tickets to some of Angel’s finest establishments.
Getting involved means you could win:
- A free meal for two at Karen’s Diner
- A free cup of coffee at EGRO
- Two hours free karaoke for six guests at Lucky Voice
- A free Google Fitbit from Islington Giving
- A pair of tickets for any show at King’s Head Theatre
- Free golf session for two at Birdies
- Pair of tickets to any show plus three free drinks each at O2 Academy
- A free piccolo ice cream at Badiani
- £30 to spend at Badiani
Why should you get involved?
Islington Giving is a coalition of local partners working together to address inequality, poverty, isolation and loneliness in Islington.
Their 2024 Winter Appeal campaign is centred on the issue of loneliness and isolation faced by vulnerable local people.
So, we spoke to Isy, a Fundraising and Communications Manager at Islington Giving, to find out a bit more about the scope of their Winter Appeal campaign.
“We raise money to support a wide variety of community groups that are offering points of connection for local people,” says Isy.
The range of community projects covers wellbeing activities like arts, music and fitness classes, hot lunches for older residents, social sessions to support female caregivers and much more.
“Islington is a borough of two halves, where you can find a huge amount of wealth and prosperity as well as high levels of deprivation creating a disparity between the haves and have nots,” Isy explains.
With parts of Islington facing a loneliness crisis, these groups offer much-needed therapeutic and mental health support as well helping people build mutual support systems.
Isy told us that the core model of Islington Giving, rests on the idea that community is relational. “Everyone has something to give, whether that’s time, money, expertise or skills”, she says.
Which is why Islington Giving believes that “everyone can come together and support the people that have less in our community.”
Islington Giving works with hundreds of community groups each year, but with rising costs and growing demand, they are hugely stretched for resources. With the money raised through their Winter Appeal, Islington Giving will provide grants to help keep these projects alive and thriving, and ensure they can continue their vital work with some of our community’s most marginalised residents.
The Angel Cracker project sits alongside their main fundraising campaign and proceeds from cracker sales and any further donations help in supporting the whole community through holistic services and local grassroots projects.
Isy also told us about the impact of the Claremont Project and how it helped a woman who had recently lost her husband feel less isolated by boosting her confidence to start coming to activity classes.
Community groups like the Claremont Project are vital to helping vulnerable people connect with their community. The project gave her a call and suggested a range of classes she might have an interest in.
“She was attending some activities online and when she did finally come in, she knew people, so it was a big welcome”, explains Isy.
Now the woman has even joined the local choir.
“She’s now going every week and she’s got all these friends so it’s just a really lovely turn around,” adds Isy.
Stories like these highlight the importance of both having online and in person classes to create familiarity, as well as having the time to check-in with attendees to make them more comfortable.
The projects need funding to ensure they have people to both run the events and carry out the outreach necessary to help people, which is why the Winter Appeal was created.
Where can you buy Angel Crackers?
These crackers are designed by volunteers and will be going on sale from November 4th. Angel Crackers are £5 each and can also be bought in a box of 6 for £30. You will be able to find them at:
- David Astburys Estate Agent, 312 Upper Street
- Islington Giving, 13 Elliott’s Place
- Lucky Voice, 173 Upper Street
- Karen’s Diner, 8 White Lion Street
- Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street
- Angel Central’s Christmas light events on November 22 (4pm-7pm) and November 23 (11am-6pm)
- Glow in the Angel, Islington Green, November 23, from 1pm-6pm
If you would like a larger order for your office Christmas do or a family get-togethers – you can put in an order by emailing isobel.miller@islingtongiving.org.uk.
Or you can directly donate to Islington Giving’s Winter Appeal by visiting their website.
We hope Angel Crackers bring you joy this Christmas. Your donation will build a more connected community by funding vital mental health and wellbeing projects in Islington, connecting our community and helping vulnerable people feel less isolated.
At the BDC we have a long history of working with and for our local community. You can find out more about the charities we work with here.
