✨ Bright Moments in a Darker Season ✨

The nights have drawn in, and there’s a chill in the air - but here in Kingston, there’s plenty to warm your heart. From festive fun at Eden Walk to exciting new ideas for community wellbeing, there’s so much to celebrate this season.

Stop by Eden Walk and Say Hello

Lucie and Justine will be at our Christmas stall in Eden Walk Shopping Centre on 13th December, 11am–5pm. Come along to:

🎟️ Grab a Christmas raffle ticket and join the festive fun
🧠 Hear about our plans for mental health in early 2026
💛 Learn how to become an individual donor and support local initiatives

Coming in 2026: Mindful Space

Mindful Space is a new Kingston Giving initiative, co-created with young people and local partners. It’s all about reimagining everyday places — cafés, venues, parks — to make them welcoming, supportive, and connected for everyone in our community.

Why it matters:

📈 Self-harm admissions among young adults are rising
😔 39% of Kingston residents say their wellbeing is “not going well”
🏡 Young people want support in real, welcoming spaces, not just clinical environments

👉 Find out more about Mindful Space

Thank You - You Made This Possible

Thanks to generous match funding from the Rowan Bentall Charitable Trust, a total of £8,500 has been raised through our Everyone Deserves a Better Christmas winter fundraiser. Your donations were doubled, creating real, meaningful change here in Kingston.

Here are just two ways your generosity has made a difference:

🌟 RBKares – Refugee Christmas Events
Festive food, zero-alcohol fizz, and 350 craft kits will bring joy to families during a challenging time. Volunteers across Kingston - including pupils from Surbiton High - are helping make the season brighter.

🎁 New Era – Young Carers Christmas Party
A £500 grant is funding a warm, joy-filled party co-designed by the young carers themselves, with food, activities, gifts, and space to connect with peers who truly “get it.”

Curious About How Local Funding Decisions Are Made?

With Participatory Grant-Making (PGM), local people help decide where our funding goes. It’s community-led, transparent, and rooted in real lived experience.

Want to be part of it? Join Kingston Giving’s PGM group and help shape the grants that make a difference in our borough.

Get in touch with Justine at justine@kingstongiving.org.uk to learn more.

Why people join our PGM…

“I feel this is a way of repaying back by supporting others”

“I believe the initiative to be a sound way to bring a more diverse panel together to ensure fair mindedness and equality”

“I wanted the opportunity to work with new people with different backgrounds”

✨ A Snapshot of All Our Other Winter Grants

🎁 New Era – £500 for a young carers Christmas Party - festive food, activities, gifts and space to connect with peers who “get it”.
🌟 Latchmere School – £500 for food & clothing to support 3 vulnerable local families.
🎄 Kingston Association for the Blind – £500 to subsidise an accessible Christmas lunch for 70 blind/partially sighted members.
💃 London Kim’s Dance Group CIC – £500 for hall hire & gatherings reducing loneliness for older women.
🏞️ Kingston Mental Health Carers’ Forum – £500 for festive-season outings for unpaid mental-health carers.
🎶 Milaap Centre – £500 for multicultural festive singalongs, Gratitude Tree & Christmas party for older adults.
🎭 Kingston Young Carers – Panto Trip – £500 for panto tickets & snacks for young carers aged 5–18.
📸 Voices of Hope – Silent No More – £500 for 10 survivors of domestic abuse to choose outfits for their photoshoot.
🎁 New Era – Young Carers Party – £500 for a Christmas event providing respite & connection for young carers.
🧺 New Era – Christmas Hampers – £500 for 40 festive food hampers for residents in crisis.
🐴 Barnfield Riding for the Disabled – £500 for 1-to-1 therapeutic horse-riding sessions for 5 people through December.
🍽️ Kingston WelCare – £500 for two family-led Christmas celebrations with breakfast, crafts & games.
🌈 Fircroft Trust – £500 for Christmas wellbeing event & information day for people with complex needs & carers.
🍳 Save The World Club – £500 for cooking classes, volunteer celebration & 100 Christmas hampers.
✨ Shine Bright UK – £500 for a Festive Fayre & winter social drop-ins supporting community wellbeing.
🕊️ SEEN – £500 for 25 hours of pregnancy-loss/crisis-pregnancy support sessions.