Right now, children across Scotland are living with abuse, neglect and trauma.
This Christmas, your support could help make sure they don't have to face it alone.
Holly knows what it feels like to be alone. At just seven years old, she would sit alone in a dark playground before school, waiting for the breakfast club to open. At home, she was sent to a blacked-out bedroom and left alone with feelings she didn't understand.
Eventually, she started to hurt herself.
Then Children First found her.
Holly discovered how one person, her Children First project worker Mairi, kept showing up when she needed someone most.
Because someone kept showing up.
Mairi didn't try to fix Holly. She listened. She cared. She kept showing up, week after week, helping Holly understand that she was worth staying for. Today, nearly a decade later, Mairi is still part of Holly's life.
And Holly's life looks very different.
She has a degree in performing arts, has travelled and volunteered in South Africa and Thailand. This year, she held her own baby boy for the first time. The little girl who once felt so alone is now someone's safest place.
You could help another child find their Mairi.
Somewhere in Scotland today, another child is frightened, isolated or hurting.
Your gift could help Children First be there with someone who listens, understands trauma and keeps showing up. Someone who can help a child feel safe and begin to understand that what happened to them isn't their fault.
You could help make sure a child doesn't face their darkest days alone. Because of you, we can keep showing up.
Children First can only be there for children because people like you choose to stand with them. Please give what you can this Christmas and help protect Scotland's children.
