Polaris Team Spreads Festive Cheer with Spitalfields Crypt Trust

This Christmas, our Polaris charity team worked with one of our chosen charity partners, Spitalfields Crypt Trust, to provide some festive joy to their Choices peer recovery group. The group is comprised of 28 members – 12 women and 16 men – and provides a vital space where members connect with others, gain confidence and support one another in recovery.

To brighten their festive season, the team curated and delivered gift bags filled with essentials and treats. Each bag contained a mix of items, including hats, gloves or socks, candles, chocolates, body wash, packs of cards, boxes of tea, notepads and pens, shortbread, and personal gifts like hand cream, jewellery, and toiletries for the women.

The initiative was organised by Sylvia Ashpole, Simone Pope, Matt Doonan, Jackie Childs, and Sarah Denver from our team, who collaborated with SCT to ensure the group felt cared for and supported during the holiday season. Both Polaris and Polaris team members generously contributed towards the bags.

Sylvia Ashpole, our Business Analyst comments:
“We asked SCT if we could provide gift bags for some of the people they work with and they suggested the Choices peer recovery group.

Everyone in the group is in recovery from addiction and either technically homeless or at risk of homelessness. So we have put together a number of gifts in each bag that they will hopefully find useful and may help to spread a little Christmas love”.

Sarah Denver our Marketing Manager added:
“It’s always rewarding to give back to the community particularly this time of year when many groups of people can be forgotten.

As a team we’ve enjoyed putting the bags together and hope the items are useful and spread a bit of festive cheer.”

The bags were distributed to the Choices group on December 18th, ensuring the members experience a moment of joy during the festive period.

Polaris is proud to support SCT in their mission to support individuals who are overcoming addictions, homelessness and complex mental health needs and hope for a brighter future.

Liz Marshall, Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications at SCT shared:

“We’re incredibly grateful to Polaris for donating Christmas gift bags to our Choices group. Christmas can be a difficult and isolating time for people experiencing homelessness and in recovery from addiction. The gift bags will bring festive joy to those who receive them and help people feel less alone. Thank you from everyone at SCT to everyone at Polaris for your generosity and support during 2024.”

Christmas Raffle
Polaris also held a Christmas raffle with staff on 18th December and raised funds for Spitalfields Crypt Trust!

Find out more about the charity here: Spitalfields Crypt Trust.
Read about our other charity work for SCT here: Polaris Giving Back.