BritCham Christmas Charity Campaign

This year for BritCham’s Christmas charity campaign, we seek your help and support with assisting one of the most vital of children charities and services who are in great need in Latvia today.

The Allaži Crisis Centre (Allažu bērnu un ģimenes atbalsta centrs) take on the most vulnerable children and teenagers who find themselves alone often after years of abuse, in all its forms. Starved of the childhood most of us enjoyed to some extent, these children haven’t felt the right kind of love for years or if ever. The space at Allaži Crisis Centre is constantly in high demand (this isn’t a small problem) and the team take on the constant responsibility of caring for society’s most vulnerable and abandoned minors when there is nowhere left for them to turn. And they do all of this on less than a shoestring budget, which is why this year we here at BritCham have teamed up with this charity for our Christmas appeal.

We don’t exaggerate when we say this is a the only place these children have left, very often bounced from one orphanage or foster family to another, this is the place they end up. The team works hard to create a safe space for these children to live and express themselves, often at great personal risk. Their passion to help these wounded children through the next day of their shattered lives as they attempt to rebuild their mental health is relentless.

There is nothing easy about seeing a child so distraught they try to hurt themselves, so damaged they have to create rooms for children to release the fear and pain with cushioned walls and watch as they hurl themselves around until exhausted or try and coax a child out who is so terrified of what is coming next, they retreat into a hideaway to shut out their unimaginable world.

As we prepare for a second pandemic Christmas and feel aggrieved that the shop doesn’t have the specific product we want, remember that many of us will be with our loved ones. These children and their carers won’t. They aren’t asking for anything this Christmas except for the pain and fear to stop.

If you would like to help support the vital work, there are many basic things they need. As you will see from the items HERE there is a dire shortage of basics and anything you can donate will be so appreciated and will help maintain the safe and caring environment for these forgotten children. Truly anything you can spare from toilet roll to crash mats or kinetic sand to laundry detergent makes a huge difference to these children and the quality of their lives.

If you would like to support this Christmas appeal by purchasing the needed items, please get in touch with BritCham Office via e-mail renate.romanovska@britcham.lv or via phone +371 26761516. We encourage collaboration between members and friends in purchasing the bigger items, that are pricey. As we plan to take all purchased items to Allaži ourselves on the week of 20th December, the deadline for the campaign is Friday 17 December.