The aim of Party Relief is to use any form of Christmas ‘party’ to raise much needed funds to help the homeless, vulnerable and hungry of the Tyneside region at Christmas.

The austerity years have made life increasingly hard for vulnerable people in the Tyneside region, pushing more and more people into deeper poverty and more desperate situations. Demand for accommodation for the homeless continues to grow, there has been a disturbing recent rise in ‘survival sex’, and our food banks are having to cope with increasing demand with one reporting as much as a 10% week on week rise in recent weeks.

So, why not have a Christmas celebration and help the most vulnerable people in our region at the same time?

Your Christmas celebration could be any form of gathering: a meal for two, a school party, a night in or a trip to the pub with friends, or a more formal works do.....anything you fancy!

If you would like to participate in Party Relief please just follow these simple steps:

1. Choose any date from now until end December

2. Organise any form of gathering of any number of people, or simply declare a pre-planned event as a Party Relief night

3. Have fun

4. The nominated Party Relief organiser collects in any form of donation/money raised (spare change/£1 a head/any sum at all)

5. The Party Relief organiser donates the money raised to this Party Relief crowdfunding site

We are extremely fortunate to have a strong network of charities across the Tyneside region that between them provide food, shelter, advice and support to the most vulnerable people in our region. Those charities need our support now more than ever.

All of the money donated to the crowd fund will be divided between the following charities specifically to support their work in the Tyneside region: Changing Lives, Shelter North East, Emmaus North East, People's Kitchen, Trussell Trust Foodbanks, The Bay Foodbank, Crisis, and FACT.

If anyone feels that their social media contacts might be interested in participating in Party Relief please do pass the message on.

Between us we could make Christmas in our region very special, for us and for our homeless, vulnerable and hungry.

(Cover photo courtesy of Trinity Mirror)