Seven enthusiastic elves from Oxygen Finance recently descended upon the Brushstrokes Community Project in Smethwick, near Birmingham, with a festive mission: wrapping Christmas presents for local children in need.

Spreading Christmas Cheer at Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes supports people across Sandwell, the Black Country, and West Birmingham, specialising in advice and assistance for asylum seekers and refugees.

This Christmas, Brushstrokes received a generous outpouring of donated gifts for children who rely on their services. To get the presents wrapped in time for the big day, the charity called upon volunteers for help.

For the third consecutive year, a team of Oxygen volunteers – this year comprising Achilleas Kouventaras, Absar Syed, Amandeep Johal, Henry Sherratt, Lily Lucas, Natasha Dunn, and Matt Walton – got to work with scissors, sticky tape, and wrapping paper to help bring some festive cheer as part of Oxygen’s commitment to supporting local charities.

A New Christmas Tradition

Brushstrokes is an extraordinary organisation. With 400 individuals accessing its services every week, the charity’s impact is both profound and far-reaching. It relies on approximately 96 volunteers and 50 dedicated staff members.

While our team busily wrapped gifts, Brushstrokes’ Volunteers Manager, Martin McNally, hosted a lunch for regular volunteers.

Experiencing the warmth and camaraderie among the charity’s team was truly inspiring.

“It was great to be able to work together as a team to spread a bit of Christmas kindness and joy,” said Natasha Dunn, Senior Research and Information Officer at Oxygen Finance. “Knowing our wrapping marathon at Brushstrokes is fast becoming an Oxygen festive tradition only made our time there even more special.”

Wrapping Over 250 Gifts for Local Children

Oxygen Finance’s Christmas wrapping initiative is just one of many activities the team undertakes to support good causes throughout the year. Staff are encouraged to make a difference in their communities, and the company match any fundraising amounts, as well as providing an additional two days of annual leave for volunteering to each staff member.

After five hours of teamwork, the Oxygen elves had wrapped over 250 presents – a festive mountain destined to bring smiles to children’s faces this Christmas.

Brushstrokes noted that the Christmas present donations this year had surpassed previous years’ totals. With even more festive fun to spread around (and wrapping to be done!), Team Oxygen was delighted to play a small part in spreading the joy.

25 Years of Transforming Lives

This year marks 25 years of Brushstrokes’ vital service to the community. Welcoming people from over 100 countries, the charity provides urgently needed clothing, food, and much more.

Their initiatives include a weekly free two-course meal on Fridays, open to anyone in the local area, thanks to a partnership with the national charity FareShare, which redistributes surplus food.

If you’d like to support Brushstrokes’ vital work, consider making a donation via their JustGiving campaign page.