Edinburgh pals raise £2,000 worth of books for city children to unwrap this Christmas

On Christmas Eve, after a glass of milk and a mince pie has been left by the fireplace, most of Edinburgh’s children will go to sleep safe in the knowledge that Santa is on his way.

Anna Savage and Laura Gray want to ensure every child has a book to read.

They will wake up to carefully picked and lovingly wrapped presents on the ends of their beds.

For most people in the city, Christmas morning will be spent in new pyjamas, unwrapping thoughtful and sometimes unexpected presents, while snacking on a chocolate orange.

But for an increasing number of families in the city, Christmas morning will simply mark another day of stress as they struggle to survive.

And for some children in the city, Santa might be unable to call and the 25th will simply be another day in poverty.

In 2019 we have seen poverty figures soar and it is estimated that one in five families in the city will struggle to buy presents this December.

This is why Anna Savage is on a mission to make sure every child in Edinburgh has a present to unwrap on Christmas morning.

Community Book Pledge

The 42-year-old and friend Laura Gray are independent consultants with Usborne Books and have used their jobs to help raise more than £2000 worth of books.

The pair have now donated these books to Cash for Kids Mission Christmas & Edinburgh Academy Donation of Toys and Books.

Anna said: “We are delighted to donate over £2000 worth of Usborne Books to the Mission Christmas Appeal.”

The women were motivated to collect the books after research undertaken by the National Literacy Trust revealed that three in 10 children in the UK do not own a single book of their own.

Anna added: “This is a truly depressing statistic and one that has alarming implications for their future. Instead of donating toys to the campaign we decided to focus on donating books.

“For every £10 members of the public and local businesses have generously donated to the appeal in the run-up to Christmas this year Usborne Books at Home donated an extra £6 of books.”

The Community Book Pledge was kindly supported by The Edinburgh Academy Junior School and on Thursday morning the school children helped

Anna and Laura donate all of the books collected to the Mission Christmas sorting office at The Gyle.

The books will be given to families in need this Christmas and will help ensure that every child in Edinburgh wakes up to at least one present on Christmas morning