Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Annual Giving Tree appeal launched to give Christmas presents to those in need

The Giving Tree appeal last year raised more than £150,000 worth of presents
The Giving Tree appeal last year raised more than £150,000 worth of presents

A heartfelt appeal has been launched in the north-east to ensure no youngster goes without a Christmas present this year.

The annual Giving Tree scheme, organised by charity Instant Neighbour, distributes thousands of gifts and toys each year to youngsters from as far north as Elgin all the way south to Laurencekirk.

This year marks a quarter of a century since the appeal first launched – and the charity hopes this year will be its biggest and best yet.

Sophy Green, chief executive of the charity, said they are expecting an estimated 6,000 gifts to be donated by generous members of the public for children who might not get a present otherwise.

“The Giving tree is vital for thousands of young people across he north-east, providing them with a happy Christmas,” she said.

“Over the years we have been overwhelmed at the generosity of the public. Without their support we simply could not delight so many.

“Our appeal requires a great deal of organisation and I can’t thank our volunteers enough who help sort and distribute the gifts.

“I would also like to thank our main sponsors Chevron who give so generously to the appeal and have done throughout its 25 year history.”

Last year, around £150,000 worth of presents were distributed across the region.

At the launch of this year’s appeal, one of the first gifts was donated by the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, George Adam.

Mr Adam said: “Christmas can be a very difficult time of year for some families and I’d ask people to pick up a tag from the tree and buy a gift to help bring smiles to homes across our communities.

“It is a joyful time of year and the Giving Tree spreads that feeling with the help of the very generous citizens of Aberdeen.”

The appeal will run until December 4.

Those who want to donate can pick up a gift tag from any one of the numerous Instant Neighbour trees around the city centre.

The tag will have the name and age of a young person from the north-east on it to help buy them a suitable gift.

The present can be dropped off, gift wrapped, at numerous shops across Aberdeen.

For full details on drop-off points, visit www.instantneighbour.co.uk