A special Christmas day for Southampton care leavers

Southampton City Council and volunteers came together this Christmas to host a special festive party for young people who have recently left care and may have been faced with spending Christmas alone

Southampton City Council and volunteers came together this Christmas to host a special festive party for young people who have recently left care and may have been faced with spending Christmas alone.

Fifteen young people aged 18 - 22 were welcomed to a family centre for a festive feast donated and cooked by Southampton’s UK City of Culture 2025 bid Chair and local restaurateur, Shelina Permalloo. Guests were treated to a curry and rice or traditional turkey with all the trimmings. Five volunteers committed time out of their Christmas Day plans to serve the food and drinks to make it a truly special festive day for the young people.

This year’s event marked the start of a regular Christmas Day ‘togetherness at Christmas’ event hosted by Southampton City Council, showcasing its commitment to continuing support, no matter the time of year or holiday, for all children and young people cared for by the council. The yearly event will ensure young care leavers will be in the company of others, celebrating and enjoying festive cheer on the one day that no one should be alone. Attendees this year were also treated to a selection of presents including generous donations from Southampton City Council staff and the local community and beautiful home-made patchwork quilts made by volunteers from the quilts for care leavers (Q4CL) project.

One of the care leavers joining the event said: “Christmas is so hard; everyone seems to have families. I don’t have a mum or dad and usually try to ignore the fact it’s Christmas, it was so wonderful to spend it with people who care this year.”

Councillor Peter Baillie, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care at Southampton City Council said:

“Christmas can be a difficult time for care leavers, it can be lonely and feel particularly difficult given the focus on togetherness. That’s why we wanted to give our care leavers a day to remember, by providing them with a safe space to come together, spend time together and most importantly enjoy some festive cheer and a delicious meal!

“Thank you to all our volunteers who dedicated time on Christmas Day to make this event happen and thank you to Shelina for not only donating a selection of food and drinks but for taking time to prepare and cook a flavourful feast too.”

Jenny Molloy, Corporate Parenting Participation Lead for children and young people at Southampton City Council adds:

“It’s been fantastic to be able to organise our first ‘togetherness at Christmas’ event this year and I know all our care leavers who joined us had a wonderful day spending it together, enjoying a festive feast!

“We have high aspirations for our care leavers to lead happy and successful lives and believe all care leavers can achieve this. We’re determined to create the right opportunities for our care leavers to thrive that’s why we offer ongoing support and guidance. Events like these where they can come together, combat feelings of loneliness and be with people who have had similar life experiences are invaluable.”