How our Big Gift appeal spread cheer for older people at Christmas

Every Christmas tens of thousands of older people in Scotland don’t have anyone to exchange a present or card with. To help older people feel less alone at what can be one of the hardest times of the year, we at Age Scotland run our annual Big Gift Appeal to bring some cheer into the lives of older people experiencing loneliness.

This year we are very grateful to our generous corporate partners who provided enough gifts to make our 2025 appeal the biggest and best yet. We delivered a total of 1,073 gifts to older people in need at 18 members groups across the country, showing older people that someone cared at Christmas.

Rachael McAlonan, from Glasgow Caledonian University, tells us why she encouraged her team to support the Big Gift Appeal:

“In terms of finding out about the appeal, I simply found it looking on the website. I've been aware of Age Scotland for years and always spare a wee thought to people spending Christmas alone, and it breaks my heart. So, this year, I decided to have a look on the website to see if I could do anything, found the Big Gift Appeal and it gave me the idea to involve work!”

The Cumbernauld Action for Care of the Elderly group was overjoyed to receive gifts through the Big Gift Appeal. One of their members said:

“This will bring so much happiness into the lives of some of the most vulnerable older people in our community. Christmas can be a difficult time for many older people, and to be able to bring some light into people’s lives is a true gift and one which I know will mean so much to so many.”

Working in conjuction with Dunelm’s Delivering Joy initiative, the Big Gift Appeal delivered a record-breaking 2,664 gifts to 75 member groups across Scotland. Thanks to the support of our partners, we were able to deliver gifts to more areas in Scotland than ever before, including Aberdeenshire Inverness, Ullapool and Lochaber.

We would like to thank all of our partners - Scotland’s Railway, Sky Cares, Lothian Buses, Morrisons, Glasgow Caledonian University, SOLLA, BNP Paribas, Scottish Water and Limitless Coaching - for donating these thoughtful gifts and supporting Age Scotland to help older people over the festive season.

And if you feel inspired to get involved and help us tackle loneliness among older people, our fundraising team would love to hear from you. Drop us an email at fundraising@agescotland.org.uk