Gift Tree Brings Spirit Of Christmas To Finchley Road’s O2 Centre

Finchley Road’s O2 Centre is encouraging shoppers to add an extra name onto their Christmas shopping list this year and donate a gift to a child in foster care within the Borough of Camden.

The centre’s Christmas ‘Gift Tree’, which has been donated by Homebase, will be hung with 150 gift tags each featuring the name and age of a local child or young person in foster care. Shoppers are being asked to take a gift tag and purchase a gift for that child. Gifts can be dropped off at the centre management offices and will be distributed in time for Christmas Day to the youngsters, who range in age from new born babies to 18-year-olds.

Jason King, Centre Director at the O2 Centre said: “Christmas should be a magical time of year for children and we want to bring the spirit of the festive season to more young people within our local community. We hope that Christmas shoppers will take the time to pick up a small gift that will make a big difference to a child in foster care.”

150 children and young people are currently in foster care within the Borough of Camden. These children may have been affected by an illness in the family, suffered abuse or neglect, a breakdown in family relations, or come to the UK unaccompanied from abroad.

Patricia, a 33-year-old foster carer from Camden, commented: “I get so much from seeing the children in my care thrive and move on to live their life as confident, loved and amazing children that they are. Just watching your foster child develop is brilliant. Every day they are learning and experiencing new things and you are there to see this and aid their development, which is so rewarding!”


As well as the Christmas Gift Tree, the O2 Centre will also be welcoming groups of musical fundraisers into the centre in the run up to Christmas. A series of local schools and organisations will be carolling in the centre to raise much-needed funds for good causes, including paediatric care in Sierra Leone. The following groups will be visiting the centre:

• 6th December: Carolling from Mulberry House School
• 11th December: Carolling from Emmanuel School
• 17th December: Carolling from Holy Trinity
• 18th December: Carolling from the Welbodi Partnership
• 21st December: Camden Youth Orchestra will be ‘busking’