GoFund me....Setting up my Christmas Shop

Hello my Festive Friends, as you know my big dream is to own my own Christmas shop. So I’m excited to share that I‘ve set up a GoFundMe page to make my dreams become a reality.

There‘s a few reasons for this, I’ve tried to apply for funding but I was turned down because unfortunately it didn’t fit the criteria and unfortunately there wasn’t enough funding available from another charity. So I decided to be proactive and set up my fundraising page. Why a Christmas shop, you may ask? Well.......

I love Christmas and I want to be able to work from home due to the current climate and what might happen in the future.
It’s my BIG DREAM to own my own Christmas shop and Christmas tree farm.
Christmas means a lot to me, when so many important life events have happened to me.
I want to create the magical Christmas I had growing up for others.
I love the Christmas magic all year round!
I never want any child to feel the way I did at Christmas prior to being adopted, not having a proper Christmas until I was 8.

So most of you know my Christmas story but for those that don’t here’s a potted version of my story:

At eight years old I had my first proper Christmas and it was so magical! I got a Mega Dream House from Santa and it was just the most immense Christmas. I want to create that same magical Christmas experience for others.
My Christmases were spent at home or at my Aunty’s or Boxing Day at my uncle‘s where we had a Boxing Day box- a lucky dip/swap. For years I think I thought that’s why it was called Boxing Day! It was crazy and loud but fun. You had to trade /barter to get the gifts you wanted rather than the dog biscuits you could end up with (Yes the dog took part too!) or freezer bags and foil one year- I think someone may have forgotten to buy a present!
My uncles were always quite mischievous and one year they started a bread roll fight after one threw one over the table to my other uncle (my family is a mix of sensible and very quirky characters!) I’m sure you can guess what camp I belong in! It was one of my favourite memories because despite everyone‘s best efforts the bread roll fight did escalate. I seem to remember one of them picking up the cranberry sauce (I think it ended there! ) And FYI sprouts make good projectiles! Haha!
Like every family we have in-jokes and I love the idea of taking family jokes and making them into funny decorations, like one I made-my uncle hates custard. Every year without fail he would remind us and we would all yell “NO CUSTARD FOR.......” I’m sure he really appreciates that loads!
Food at Christmas is a big part of our Christmas like most others. My favourite meal is Christmas dinner, I love it all from pigs in blankets to sprouts to bread sauce and our flaming Christmas pudding (these are big staples from my Christmas dinners) so we should definitely be celebrating the dinner so I made my own little Christmas dinner decorations to hang on my tree, including sprouts-still working on a flaming pudding!
One of my BIG moments was that I got engaged and my hubby put my engagement ring in the bottom of my Christmas stocking that we had done for each other. It was the most perfect way to propose to me and I have made a little decoration to remember that magical moment! I love capturing fun family moments and Christmassy memories.
Christmas in hospital isn’t the way I had wished to spend it but Santa found me and I got a little stocking which has inspired me to help Santa out now and do extra stockings for the patients on the Kidney Ward. This is now one of my Christmas traditions.
I then received my Gift of my transplant 15 months later and I was able to recover and enjoy the festive period to the max. It reignited my love of Christmas time to its full capacity! My Christmas dreams were born and I became inspired to follow my dream, so I started to put little things in place for me to go on the Festive Journey.
And lastly I had my miracle daughter at Christmas and we were able to get home just in time for Christmas Day and it was the most beautiful time, with my daughter in my arms and the beautiful glistening lights of our tree!
My daughter‘s first birthday and first Christmas was just lovely. We opened stockings on the bed like we did when I was younger and it filled me with so much warmth and it made made me cry because I never thought would ever get to this. Christmas is my happy place and if I can create that for others then my work is done.

That‘s my Christmas story and why I’ve set up a GoFundMe page because like Santa and his elves I need somewhere to create these magical Christmas decorations and gifts!

As part of my business core values, I will continue to give back to the community and by having this space to create, it will make it easier for me to do so.

Please follow the link below, and keep an eye on my Facebook and Instagram pages for updates and sneak peaks of my new business...

https://www.gofundme.com/f/21i6jakleo?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_nacp+share-sheet&rcid=d964def98ff24315b6835b9cfa44ab72

Thank you Festive Friends 🎄