COULD you help create a magical moment for a young care leaver in Ellesmere Port this Christmas?

The Ellesmere Port Christmas Dinner for Care Leavers returns this Christmas Day, following a successful inaugural event last year.

The event, which now runs nationally, was inspired by Manchester poet and broadcaster Lemn Sissay, who spent much of his childhood in care and recognised that young people who had been raised in foster care or care homes often lacked support once they left the care system aged 18.

Once again, volunteers are giving up their free time on the day to provide a Christmas dinner for dozens of care leavers aged 18-27 and give them meaningful gifts, in a magical event at Whitby Hall, home of Action Transport Theatre.

Uná Meehan, part of the Christmas Dinner Steering Group, explained how people can still show their support for this year’s event.

She said: “We are inundated for Christmas Day, but In the weeks leading up to Christmas, we are still looking for people to help at Whitby Hall and do various jobs. If anyone has a particular skill we’d like them to get in touch.

“The second way they can help is to buy a Christmas gift for a young person. They can go on to our Amazon wish list, which is available via the Action Transport Theatre website and on their social media.

“We would like local businesses, instead of buying chocolates or cards for their office, they can club together to buy one of the big gifts for the children and create a magical moment like the ones we all had when growing up.

“We also have a Crowdfunder which we are still looking to hit the £4,000 target .”

To help, email ellesmereportxmasdinner@gmail.com or call Action Transport Theatre on 0151 357 2120.

Links to the Amazon wish list and the Crowdfunder can be found at http://www.actiontransporttheatre.org/EPChristmasDinner.