For this year’s Santa Run, while we still plan to murder a few Christmas carols at Sir James Mckay House, we have decided that the other venue we visit will be the Rock Trust, an Edinburgh based charity that works with young people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. This includes young people who are young single parents, do not have sufficient support systems, are leaving the care of the local authority or home, those involved in offending, alcohol or drug misuse (www.rocktrust.org)

As you might imagine, the needs of the Rock Trust are slightly different to those of the Sick Kids Hospital, so in place of the usual gifts of toys and books, we are asking for cash donations and gifts of basic toiletries. Having spoken with the staff at Sir James McKay, it turns out that their residents are less keen on the odd tipple or chocolate biscuit than we imagined and they would also find cash donations much more useful – allowing them to help fund days out and the like.