Get Your Sparkle On for NSPCC this Christmas

The NSPCC is encouraging people across Devon and Cornwall to get into the festive spirit and ‘Get Your Sparkle On’ as part of its Christmas campaign.

The children’s charity’s Christmas fundraising initiative asks people to get their friends, family or work colleagues together and sparkle up their outfits, or decorate their faces with eco-glitter.

Anyone taking part is encouraged to donate £3 to the NSPCC by texting SPARKLE to 70007.

A £3 donation is enough to fund the charity’s School Service to reach another child and help keep them safe from abuse and neglect.

Community Fundraising Manager, Alison Armer said: “We really hope people will get on board with our super, sparkly, fun and glittery Christmas fundraising idea.

“People can get involved whenever they like. It could be at the work Christmas party, in the office or you can just ‘Get Your Sparkle On’ at home.

“We rely on supporters for 90% of the charity’s funding and so every donation, however small or big, helps us protect children and prevent abuse from happening in the first place.

“Please send us your pictures and share the hashtag #GetYourSparkleOn and know that by getting sparkly at Christmas time you are making a difference to local children.”

In the last academic year, over 39,000 children benefitted from the NSPCC School Service team visiting more than 200 local schools across the two counties.

The programme is presented out across the area through school assemblies and workshops, with the help of the charity’s mascot Buddy.

During each visit, the children are taught about physical, sexual and emotional abuse as well as neglect and bullying.

The assemblies are tailored to different year groups to ensure the content is age-appropriate.

In 2017/18 the charity’s Schools Service team visited more than 8,000 schools in the country and educated around 1.8 million children in the UK and Channel Islands about the different kinds of abuse.