AN INITIATIVE set up in memory of a kindly grandmother who encouraged her grandchildren to buy gifts for youngsters who would otherwise get nothing at Christmas will this be handing over its 500,000th present this festive season.
Norah’s North Pole was created by the family of Sunderland’s Norah Wilkinson, who would give her own grandchildren money to buy small gifts for other children, which were they distributed by her social worker daughter every Christmas Eve.
After she passed her family were determined to keep the traditional alive – and over the past ten years have donated a remarkable half a million gifts which have g
one to families across the region.
The hope is that this year they can surpass previous records and are now encouraging people to help ahead of the final deadline this Friday (December 12).
The rising costs of favourite toys has put even more financial pressure on families, making the donations from Norah’s North Pole even more important than ever.
The team is encouraging people to buy gifts locally wherever possible – so helping the region’s economy at the same time – and there are a range of drop off points across the region along with an Amazon wish list.
People can also donate cash via the GoFundMe page, where all money raised will be spend on buying toys for young people.
Norah’s North Pole works with head teachers, social workers, refuges and local authorities to ensure that no child misses out on waking up to a gift on Christmas morning.
Victoria Imrie Bell, one of Norah’s grandchildren praised the generosity of all of the people who had helped over the years.
“Reaching our 10th anniversary and packing our 500,000th present is something we are incredibly proud of and we know our grandma, Norah, would be too,” she said.
“The North East is a special place, the people who live here truly believe in kindness. We are just a family trying to make a difference.
“The thought of a child waking up on Christmas morning with nothing, wondering why Santa visited their friends but not them, is simply heartbreaking.
!If Norah’s North Pole can bring people together to create a little hub of happiness and send out kindness to these children, then together we are changing more than just Christmas morning. We are showing them that someone cares.”
Once the gifts are collected an army of helpers get together for the annual packing weekend, where they are put in Santa sacks and then distributed.
“No child ever knows about Norah’s North Pole, the gifts come from Santa,” said Tor.
“ The stories shared by Norah’s North Pole are always anonymised and shared only in small snippets, reflect the often unimaginable situations many local children are living through.
“Norah’s North Pole is not charity. It is simply a family, working full time alongside this mission, determined to honour their grandma’s legacy and make sure as many children as possible feel the magic of Christmas.
Anyone wanting to help ahead of the deadline can do so via the following ways-
Donate gifts from the Amazon list and have them delivered directly to the elves at Norah’s North Pole HQ – https://bit.ly/AmazonNNP2025
Donate to via the GoFundMe page – https://bit.ly/NNP2025
Drop off gift donations to one of the drop off points – please ensure they are new toys.To find out a list of the drop off points around the North East visit www.norahsnorthpole.co.uk