The Giving Tree is our annual charitable present-giving endeavour to support children of the St Francis Family Centre in Poplar, East London.
Here’s a bit about the Centre (which is run by the Catholic Children’s Society), to show how valuable this scheme is…
St Francis Family Centre
St Francis is based in Poplar, Tower Hamlets. The area has the highest rate of child poverty in the country, more than double the national average. Many of the families we work with live in crowded and dilapidated accommodation and struggle to afford basic essentials for their children.
The family centre works in partnership with parents to provide outstanding pre-school education, giving disadvantaged children the best possible start in life. It supports families who have no one else to turn to. This includes mothers who have fled domestic abuse and children with complex social, emotional and behavioural issues.
Why this is needed
The most crucial stage in children’s development is their first few years of life. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds frequently begin primary school lagging far behind their more affluent peers.
It is vital that disadvantaged children receive the support they need at an early stage, so they can make a successful transition to school and achieve their full potential.
Presents and Hampers at Christmas complement the services the family centre provides and brings a good dose of Christmas cheer!
How do I take part?
You will see a lovely tree set up in one of the side altars, on the right hand side of St Joseph’s church. If you would like to take part, please take a sheet detailing all the instructions as to how to make your order. Following the success of previous years, we are continuing to make use of an online Wishlist with Amazon to order the toys. The advantage of this means that the Centre can receive the gifts directly and quickly, which will keep the process simple and convenient. It also means you do not need to bring any gifts back to the church – everything will be ordered online and delivered direct to the St Francis Centre.
Once on the wishlist page, choose your gift and then click “add to basket”. Once you are happy with your choice, head to the checkout in the usual way.
Important Note: Once you have clicked on “checkout”, be careful when you get to the page entitled “Choose your delivery address”. We are sending the gifts directly to the St Francis Centre, so You MUST click on “Other Addresses” and choose the Giving Tree 2025’s Gift Registry Address
See the screenshot below:
Please remember…
Gifts need to be received by the Centre by Friday 12 December 2025, so please order your gift to arrive by then. That gives the St Francis Centre time to sort and wrap gifts, before they are handed out to the children.
And finally, a word of thanks, in advance, from Margaret, on behalf of those working at the Centre itself:
Dear Fr Peter and Bishop’s Stortford Parishioners,
Thank you so much for supporting us again this year it’s really kind and your generosity is much appreciated by us all.
The gifts that you & the parishioners send really do make a difference to all our families like Sam who lives with his mum in one room in a shared house, he has few toys and benefits from using our toy library. For Sam and all our other children that present, provided by you, will make a very happy Christmas .