Nikki's December in a Nutshell
As we enter 2023, Scotty’s Little Soldiers’ founder, Nikki, shares an update on the events of the past month, including Scotty’s annual Christmas party, how we support our members over the festive period and receiving a marvel-ous video message from Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
Happy New Year!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. It’s one of my favourite times of year! Seeing my children smiling and having fun is what it’s all about for me, and I always make sure the laptop is tucked away for a week so I can spend as much time as possible with my family.
But, despite the celebrations, Christmas has never been the same since 2009 when Lee was killed. Someone special is missing and that can be really difficult to deal with. It’s also a time when the media constantly portrays happy families coming together to celebrate, which can cause bereaved families a lot of pain. You want to enjoy the day, but you’re also very aware someone special isn’t able to enjoy it with you. It can sometimes turn into that ‘elephant in the room’ feeling, which is why it’s so important to find ways of celebrating that feel right and remind you it’s okay to smile.
Scotty’s Christmas gifts
Scotty’s help our members remember this by sending them Christmas presents every single year. This Christmas, we sent over 400 gifts to our bereaved Forces children and young people, who had them ready to open on Christmas Day. We even have a few members who live abroad, so it’s a big job! I love sending the gifts as it helps reassure our members they are not alone and reminds them the Scotty’s community is here to support them.
We don’t just send the gifts and forget about them, either. Every single gift gets tracked and monitored so we are doing all we can to make sure every child has their present ready to open on the 25th. Scotty’s always puts a lot of thought into our gifts, and this year we sent a special voucher along with a challenge coin. A challenge coin, for anyone who doesn’t know, is a small coin embedded with an organisation’s emblem or similar that is carried by that organisation's members. They are often collected by service personnel and used within the military community. For our Scotty members, who all have deep ties to military, this felt like a perfect fit.
Scotty’s annual Christmas party
Gifts aren’t the only way we support our members at Christmas. Last month, we held our annual Scotty’s Christmas party. Over one hundred members joined us at Condover Hall in Shropshire for a weekend of festive fun!
Christmas is such a special time, but we’re also very aware that it can be a difficult and emotional time of year for bereaved young people and their families. We have the party to remind our members they aren’t alone but also to facilitate the opportunity for them to meet and forge friendships. We chose the Heroes and Villains theme based on suggestions from our members and all the activities were designed to help increase their confidence, self-esteem and help promote their overall emotional wellbeing. It means the world to see our members get together, have fun and bond over their shared experiences.
A marvel-ous message from Prince Harry
Of course, we were also lucky enough to kick the party off with a personal message from Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. It means so much to everyone at Scotty’s to have Prince Harry’s continued support. He knows what it’s like to grow up without a parent and understands there are certain times of the year that can be particularly challenging. I love the fact that Prince Harry not only recorded such a special message but also dressed up as Spiderman!
We crammed a lot into 2022 and this year looks to be just as exciting. We’ve got lots of plans to continue improving our support for bereaved military children and young people and I can’t wait to share them all with you.
Here’s to 2023!
Nikki
