Christmas Gift Packs
Every year, thousands of seafarers spend Christmas far from home and family.
The contact our Port Chaplains and Ship Visitors have means we’re ideally placed to bring them some seasonal joy and share the Christmas story. Each year we deliver thousands of gift packs – something that would not be possible without the generosity of our supporters.
Could you, your church, youth group, Sunday school, women’s group, or school SU collect supplies, gather together and make up gift packs? Why not make a special event of it?
Read on for tips and guidelines.
The Timeline
1. Plan & Promote
Ideally this should be done before, or over the summer months.
Key Steps
- Decide who is going to be involved. It could be a whole-church fellowship event, or something done in a smaller group.
- Set your date and book a venue.
- Plan the build up. When and how will you launch the appeal?
Some things to think about:
- How are you going to get contents for the packs? You could rely on making the need known and setting up a box/area for collections. Alternatively you could request donations and do some bulk buying.
- Will you be producing a leaflet, etc.?
- When do you need contributions by? Will there be specific collection dates?
- What are you going to make the packs up in? This is usually done in clear plastic freezer bags. Or you could try something like the tie string bags mentioned in the “Harbour Hope” section below.
- Where will you store packs, and will you be able to transport them?
- Will there be refreshments?
What Goes in a gift pack?
Please ensure all items are brand new.
“Extras” are encouraged, but optional!
Essentials
- Toothbrushes & toothpaste
- Soap, shower gel
- Shampoo
- Shaving cream
- Deodorants
- Cleansers and moisturisers
- Disposable razors
- Hand cream
- Combs and brushes
- Lip balm
Warm Clothing
- Socks – thermal or gym
- Woolly hats
- Gloves
Extras
Treats
- Chocolates, sweets and biscuits (with expiry dates into next year).
Personal Touch
- Handmade Christmas cards from families or children.
- Teddies and other soft toys to take home for their children.
- Appropriate T-shirts.
- Notes or cards of appreciation
For many seafarers, your gift pack is the only present they will receive this Christmas. Thank you for making a difference.
Donations in lieu of packs are also welcome.
Harbour Hope - An Example
In 2025, Hamilton Road Baptist Church, working with SCFS, relaunched their annual gift pack event. They put their youth at the heart of it. You young people suggested calling it “Harbour Hope” and they had a special packing evening where they heard from the local Port Chaplain, Sam Cowan.
In addition the church decided to get drawstring bags printed especially for distribution. This included a special message and Bible verse in common seafarer languages, and this provided an additional, practical keepsake for the seafarers. This cost less than £1 per bag (see here). Feel free to contact andrew.kyle@scfs.org if you would like help with something similar, or would be interested in a buying a more generic version similar to this, but with a space to write your church/group name.
