Amazon backs Brumwish campaign with stunning donation to give struggling kids a Christmas

Amazon has donated thousands of pounds to our Brumwish 2024 appeal - giving a huge boost to our drive to get a Christmas present to every struggling child in Birmingham. The retail giant has donated £5,000 to our Brumwish appeal - which is back for 2024, and needed more than ever.

A scandalous number of Birmingham children are growing up in poverty, in care or are homeless in England's second city. As we reported in our Child Poverty Emergency report in the autumn, the numbers of children affected has rocketed in under a decade, with more kids feeling the pain of poverty today in the city than at any time since modern records began.

The rise is huge - from 27 per cent of children in poverty in 2015 to 46% today. We believe our festive Brumwish campaign is more vital than ever - and we need your help.

READ MORE: Brumwish Christmas appeal returns to help city’s most vulnerable children - how you can help

BrumWish was established by Birmingham Live in 2020 as a festive effort to get thousands of gifts to children and young people across our city . Over the years it has evolved substantially, with Brummies taking on mountain challenges, donating funds and buying presents off the Amazon giftlist to go directly to struggling children.

2023 was a record breaking year for Brumwish, with a whopping 11,000 brand new gifts donated. Thanks to our partnership with #Toys4Birmingham, every single gift will find a good home in the loving care of a child living in B&Bs or hotels, hostels or refuges, or linked to charities across the city.

Making up the Brumwish and Toys4Birmingham gang are Thrive Together Birmingham, Birmingham Playcare Network, Warwickshire Cricket Foundation (the charitable arm of Warwickshire County Cricket Club), Birmingham Forward Steps and BirminghamLive/Birmingham Mail.

Thanks to the incredible support of Amazon UK and the amazing team at the Sutton Coldfield depot, hundreds of children will be waking up to a ray of hope on Christmas day 2024. Amazon has been involved with the BrumWish project since 2021, and this year’s support takes Amazon’s donations to the charity to a total of £25,000.

This year we have heard from parents queueing up at city food banks without their children knowing, met teachers and family workers routinely dipping into their pockets to buy food for hungry kids and families living in shamefully damp conditions.

Paul Roberts, general manager at Amazon’s Sutton Coldfield fulfilment centre, said: “BrumWish is a fantastic campaign that brings joy to so many children in the most challenging of circumstances. Along with the entire team, I’m proud we’re supporting the campaign again this year.

"Everyone at Amazon in Sutton Coldfield wishes everyone connected to BrumWish the best during this festive season.”

Graeme Brown, editor of the Birmingham Mail and BirminghamLive, said: “Thank you to the Amazon team for this donation and their continued support. Birmingham’s child poverty rate grows year on year, which makes the BrumWish campaign all the more important.

"Donations like this go a long way to ensure each child has a magical Christmas, regardless of their circumstances.” Amazon also co-founded the 'multibank' initiative with former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to support families in need.

The initiative has donated more than 5 million surplus goods to over 500,000 families across Scotland, Wales, Greater Manchester, London, and Tees Valley.