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Dear VIEW Club Members,
As a valued part of The Smith Family, VIEW Clubs may be now
starting to think about our Christmas Toy and Book Appeal for
2023. So today I would like to provide you with an important
update about this activity.
Firstly, I would like to thank your VIEW Club members for your
incredible support of our Christmas Toy and Book activity over
many years. We have been able to deliver this so successfully
because of your generous donations including in some cases VIEW
member’s volunteering, and we are sincerely grateful for all you
have contributed.
Topline summary
In recent years due to the pandemic, we have not run the Toy and
Book physical activation (packing and delivery date) in most
locations. Instead we have provided digital gift vouchers to
eligible families whose children take part in our Learning for
Life program.
The Smith Family helps young Australians to overcome educational
inequality caused by poverty. Given this focus and our ambition
to provide our Learning for Life program to more young
Australians, we recently conducted a review of our annual Toy and
Book Appeal.
After extensive consultation with our stakeholders, including The
Smith Family team members who work directly with families, we
determined December 2023 will be the last time that the Toy
and Book Appeal will take place.
We are telling you now because we wanted to ensure that our
much-valued VIEW members and families we support were aware of
the change well ahead of next Christmas (2024).
Our Toy and Book Appeal continues in 2023.
We thank VIEW Clubs for their steadfast support and all their
contributions to the success of the Christmas Toy and Book
campaign through donating and volunteering over the years.
Background and details
As you know, traditionally at The Smith Family we have collected
toys and books from the public, for packing and distributing by
incredible volunteers like you to families whose children are
part of our Learning for Life program.
However, in recent years due to the pandemic, eligible families
have received instead a digital gift voucher for each child – and
this has also meant our usual Christmas volunteering roles have
not gone ahead in most states. This year, we will again provide
digital vouchers to children on our program nationwide.
As you would be aware, The Smith Family helps young Australians
to overcome educational inequality caused by poverty, working
with thousands of children and their families to empower them to
unlock better futures for themselves through education.
Given this focus and our ambition to provide our Learning for
Life program to more young Australians, we recently conducted
a review of our annual Toy and Book Appeal.
After extensive consultation with our stakeholders, including The
Smith Family team members who work directly with families, we
determined that we must prioritise helping children to achieve
better educational outcomes.
This means that December 2023 will be the last time that the
Toy and Book Appeal will take place.
We are telling you now because we wanted to ensure that our
much-valued VIEW members and families we support were aware of
the change well ahead of next Christmas (2024). Next year, we
will ensure families know where to access Christmas gifts from
other charities as needed.
This decision reflects the fact that, for the one in six children
growing up in disadvantage in Australia, poverty is blocking
their progress at every turn, directly impacting their
educational outcomes.
Furthermore, the demand for our Learning for Life program
outstrips what we can currently provide, and at the same time,
our goal is to meet this growing demand by providing the program
to 100,000 children by 2027. More children than ever need our
help to overcome the daily challenges that prevent them from
having the same opportunities as other children to achieve their
best at school.
Given the need to focus strongly on our core program of education
support, we concluded that the significant annual resources
involved in running a one-off Toy and Book Appeal are better
directed to supporting the education of children for the long
term.
Ultimately, redeploying the resources for the Toy and Book Appeal
into our core program will allow us to help hundreds more
children to access our proven learning and mentoring programs,
delivering lasting and permanent benefits for them, their family
and their communities.
We understand that this decision may come as a disappointment,
and we are working hard to ensure we treat everyone with
sensitivity and care in communicating this change. The Smith
Family is committed to supporting all families through this
transition, and including, as we’ve said, ensuring they are aware
of local organisations providing gift packs for Christmas in
2024. In addition, sponsors (of which VIEW Clubs number among our
most significant community group) will still be able to elect to
provide a Christmas gift to their sponsored student via digital
vouchers or physical gifts.
Again, I would like to thank VIEW Clubs for the 63 years of
dedicated support you have provided to The Smith Family through
donating and volunteering for our Christmas Toy and Book
campaign.
I would also like to extend our sincere thanks for your continued
support for our vision – to give children the opportunity to
change their futures, using education as the key.
As mentioned above, 2023 will be the final Smith Family Christmas
Toy and Book Appeal. VIEW National Office will be sending Toy and
Book Appeal 2023 donation forms to all VIEW Clubs in September.
Please click here for more
information or contact Toyandbook@thesmithfamily.com.au
with any questions you may have. You can also visit www.thesmithfamily.com.au
to learn more about other volunteering opportunities and ways to
support our work.
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