A Pembrokeshire school initiative has helped donate more than 250 presents to children in need.
Milford Haven School’s Tags on the Tree project, which has been running for several years, supports the PATCH Defender House Charity and their annual Toy Appeal.
Each November, a Christmas tree is decorated with tags, each featuring the anonymised details of a child within the community who has been referred to PATCH due to deprivation.
School staff are invited to choose a tag, purchase a gift for the child, and place it back under the tree for PATCH to collect and deliver in time for Christmas.
In 2023, the initiative was extended to include the wider community, with multiple new locations introduced for people to collect tags from.
These locations included Milford Haven Library, Neyland Library, Hubberston and Hakin Community Centre, Milford Youth Matters Pop Up Shop, B-Fit Gym, Pembroke Leisure Centre, and Ysgol Harri Tudur.
The school said the community’s response was overwhelming, with more than 250 presents donated to the PATCH Toy Appeal in 2024.
Milford Haven Round Table also supported the project, purchasing gifts for 15 tags from the school tree.
Mrs Wilcox, head of Defender House, said: “I am extremely proud that PATCH is our Defender House charity and that we get to support the amazing work they do.
“I am very grateful for the continued support of all of the staff at Milford Haven School that make this project possible and this year I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our extra venues for joining forces with us to more than double our donations.
“This is just one of the many projects that we run to inject as much support as we can into our community.
“I hope that the little bit of help we give will go a long way.”
The school extended its gratitude to the community of Milford Haven for their generosity, describing them as “evidence that together we can make a real difference to local families and the Christmas they experience.”
They also expressed pride in being supporters of the PATCH Charity Toy Appeal.
The success of the initiative, according to Mrs Wilcox, is a testament to the community spirit within Milford Haven School and beyond.
The Tags on the Tree project is one of several the school runs to support their community.