What began with a 12-year-old boy spending some of his own birthday and Christmas money on gifts for children he had never met eventually grew into a community-wide Christmas campaign. Oscar, from Cleckheaton in West Yorkshire, first started collecting presents for children who might otherwise have little or nothing to open on Christmas morning.Three years later, he had helped deliver more than 1,000 gifts to The Salvation Army’s Christmas Present Appeal in Batley. In 2024 alone, Oscar collected around 600 presents, including toys, dolls, books, jigsaws and arts and crafts sets. Added to the 200 gifts he donated in 2022 and another 250 in 2023, his total passed the 1,000 mark.The campaign eventually became much bigger than Oscar’s own contribution. His family, friends, customers at his parents’ business and pupils and staff at BBG Academy in Birkenshaw all joined in, turning what began as a small idea into a large community effort.
Oscar began his Christmas donation campaign with his own money
The idea started with a conversation between Oscar and his mother, Emma, about children who believe in Father Christmas but whose families may not be able to afford presents. Oscar decided to do something about it. He used some of his own birthday and Christmas money to buy gifts and began collecting additional presents for The Salvation Army’s Christmas Present Appeal. The first year was supposed to be modest. Emma later recalled that they expected to have only “a couple of carrier bags” of presents.Instead, the response was far greater than either of them anticipated. In 2022, Oscar donated 200 presents. The following year, the number rose to 250. By the third year, the campaign had grown dramatically, with Oscar and his supporters collecting around 600 gifts for the 2024 appeal. What had started as one child’s decision to spend his own money had become something that other people wanted to be part of.
His school and local community turned the idea into a huge collection
Oscar’s campaign grew because people around him began contributing their own gifts. His school, BBG Academy, established collection points where pupils and staff could drop off presents. The school also organised a Christmas Fair to raise money towards the campaign. Oscar’s family helped spread the word, while customers of his parents’ business and friends also donated. By the time the 2024 collection was delivered, there were enough presents to fill a school bus. The haul included toys, dolls, jigsaws, books and arts and crafts sets, among many other gifts.Oscar credited the people around him for making the campaign possible. The Salvation Army quoted him saying that his friends had been supportive and that the school had helped set up donation points. He also said he was grateful to everyone who had contributed. For Emma, the scale of the response was difficult to comprehend. She said Oscar had initiated the project, but it was the people who went out of their way to buy presents and drop them off who ultimately made the difference.
Oscar’s campaign grew as people around him began contributing their own gifts (Image: The Salvation Army Website)
The Salvation Army distributes gifts to children facing financial hardship
The presents were collected as part of The Salvation Army’s Christmas Present Appeal, which provides new gifts to children whose families are struggling financially. The organisation said that the appeal had distributed 84,000 gifts to children across the UK the previous year, illustrating the scale of the need behind the annual campaign.In Batley, the local Salvation Army had provided gifts for 500 children the year before Oscar’s 1,000th-donation milestone. Major Paul Wilson, who leads Batley Salvation Army alongside his wife, Major Carolyn, said demand was expected to remain high. The gifts collected by Oscar and his supporters were sorted and distributed to children and families in the area through local groups, schools and social services.For some families, the presents can represent much more than a toy under the tree. Emma recalled hearing from people who had previously received help from The Salvation Army, including one woman who had become homeless and was living in emergency accommodation before Christmas. She had told her children that Christmas would not happen that year until the charity arrived with a box of gifts.
His 1,000th donation became a community Christmas effort
By the time Oscar reached more than 1,000 donated presents, the campaign was no longer something he was doing alone. Major Paul Wilson said Oscar was making a significant difference to families in Batley and surrounding areas, helping children who might otherwise wake up on Christmas morning without presents.The local Salvation Army leader said that without Oscar’s contribution, meeting the demand would have been much harder. His school was equally proud of the project, with Head of Year Seven Clare Sanderson describing it as an example of kindness that inspired staff and students to participate. Oscar himself gave a simple reason for continuing. He said helping people made him feel good about himself.That sentiment is perhaps what made the campaign grow. A child used some of his own birthday money to buy a few Christmas presents for strangers. Friends joined him, then a school, families and members of the wider community. Three years later, the result was a school bus filled with gifts and a total that had crossed 1,000 presents. The Salvation Army’s 2024 account of Oscar’s campaign ultimately shows how a small act of generosity can become much larger when other people decide to carry it forward.
