Behind the scenes

Behind the scenes, our head elf and her team quietly spend the year holding events, raising money and sprinkling Christmas magic across the community. With a notebook full of fairy lights and a phone that doesn’t stop ringing from September, she co-ordinates with homes, shelters, schools, and local councils to find the children who need a delivery of Christmas sparkle this year—the ones Santa might struggle to reach without a helping hand.

Then comes the truly enchanting part. Using super-special elf skills (the kind you can only learn after years of top-secret North Pole training), we discover what each child dreams of finding under the tree. A long-desired toy for hours of play. A large, cuddly teddy for bedtime. A book that will whisk them away on a magical adventure. Then we fill their Christmas sack with extra toys, books, delicious chocolate, cuddly bears, toiletries and art supplies.

When all the gifts are gathered, we head to one of our secret grottos—magical workshops filled with twinkling lights, mountains of colourful wrapping paper, discarded coffee cups, and elves who can’t keep track of the scissors or Sellotape. Here, thousands of presents are wrapped, tags are tied, lists are checked twice, and many dramatic candy-cane battles are fought over the last Malteser in the box.

Next, the sacks are loaded into the sleigh—carefully, lovingly, and occasionally with a tinsel fight. Then off we go, making almost a hundred secret deliveries. Each stop leaves behind a little pocket of magic, waiting to be discovered on Christmas morning.

And every year, our sleigh grows heavier. Every year, our route grows longer. Every year, the magic grows.

This year, we’re on a mission to provide 2,000 children with a Christmas sack filled with goodness.

Behind the scenes

If you’d like to get involved, visit our Join the Magic page.