(Image: The Clothing Bank)
A charity that supports struggling families across Yorkshire is searching for a volunteer filmmaker to help bring its Christmas campaign to life.
The Clothing Bank is appealing for a videographer or media student to produce a video highlighting the challenges facing families this winter and the charity's efforts to ensure children receive new clothes for Christmas.
Founder Susan Bell said the campaign is particularly important as more working families continue to seek support.
She said: "We just thought we'd give somebody else the opportunity to do another one...we think that Santa needs to go to everybody, not just a few,"
Volunteers from The Clothing Bank during a fundraising walk, which helped raise awareness and support for the charity's work across the UK. (Image: The Clothing Bank)
Looking for the next filmmaker
The charity's appeal comes after a Christmas video produced by a media student last year proved a major success.
Ms Bell said the film was widely shared and helped raise awareness of the organisation's work.
She said: "It was only a young lad who did the video last year and it was the first time he'd ever done one, it went down really well and was shared a lot of times."
The charity hopes the project will give an aspiring filmmaker a chance to gain experience while helping a good cause.
Helping families through winter
The Clothing Bank provides essential clothing, school uniforms, workwear, shoes and bags free of charge to people across the UK.
Founded in 2020, the charity was created after founders Susan Bell and Sally recognised a gap in support for people struggling to afford clothing essentials.
Today, it supports a wide range of people, from homeless individuals to students and working families.
Ms Bell said: "We mainly deal with working families that are just struggling because of the cost of living."
She added: "We help children in school, college and university, homeless people, hospitals, and anybody who is trying but can't get help from anywhere else."
Supporters and volunteers help collect and distribute donated clothing through The Clothing Bank's community network. (Image: The Clothing Bank)
'Some children would get nothing'
As part of its annual Christmas campaign, the charity aims to provide children with new pyjamas for Christmas Eve and a new outfit for Christmas Day.
Ms Bell said the gifts can make a huge difference to families facing financial hardship.
"The reality for these kids is that without those pyjamas and that new outfit, they probably wouldn't get anything," she said.
Ms Bell added: "Even though the parents are working, it just means there is no money there."
She added that providing clothing helps families direct more of their income towards food, heating and household bills during the colder months.
Growing demand
Demand for support continues to grow, with The Clothing Bank already exceeding the 10,000 clothing packs it distributed throughout the whole of last year.
Starting from a small network of drop-off points in Yorkshire, The Clothing Bank now operates from more than 120 locations across the UK and has built a community of more than 127,000 followers online.
Ms Bell said raising awareness of the charity's work remains just as important as collecting donations.
She said: "We're trying to make sure every child has something to open and something special to wear at Christmas,"
Anyone interested in helping create this year's Christmas campaign video can contact The Clothing Bank through its social media channels.