Our college community come together often to support people across Darlington and beyond through a series of heartfelt initiatives. From welcoming residents for a Christmas Day celebration, to delivering gifts, supporting local charities, and writing thousands of cards, students and staff demonstrated compassion, generosity, and true community spirit.
Celebrating With Residents
We welcomed more than 80 Darlington residents many of whom live alone, for a heart-warming community event at QE.
Designed to tackle loneliness, guests enjoyed a traditional Christmas lunch, a carol service, live entertainment, and a festive raffle, during what can be a difficult time of year.
Students from QE played a significant role in making the event a success, with Travel and Tourism students, alongside the Event Planning group, supporting the organisation and delivery of the day.
Marie Hedley, Teacher at QE, said:
“Nobody should feel forgotten or alone at this time of year. Events like this remind us how important it is to be a community, to look out for one another and to take the time to connect.”
Spreading Festive Cheer with Christmas Gifts
In the lead-up to Christmas, kind-hearted students took part in a Christmas gift initiative. As part of a Secret Santa activity, students handed out small Christmas gifts to members of the public, sparking smiles, conversations, and moments of warmth during the busy Christmas rush
Students also delivered gifts to the Women’s Refuge in Darlington to support women and families facing difficult circumstances. In addition, they also continued their support for Nightlight, the local homeless charity, donating winter essentials such as coats, gloves, and blankets to help protect vulnerable people during the coldest months.
Supporting Care Leavers and Families Through the Reverse Advent Calendar
Students and staff supported the Reverse Advent Calendar project, which helped care leavers and families in crisis during the Christmas period. The project encouraged people to donate items each day in the lead up to Christmas, filling boxes with essential goods, festive treats, and thoughtful items to be given to those in need.
Everybody across the College worked together to ensure as many boxes as possible were filled -demonstrating the collective strength of the QE community. Their involvement helped raise awareness of the challenges faced by care leavers and families in crisis, while also providing meaningful and practical support.
As part of the project, Christina Lezou handed over one of the completed boxes to Darlington Rotarian Nigel Little, who supported the distribution of donations across the local area.
QE Student, Christina, commented:
“Helping others should not be something we only think about at Christmas. We need to take care of each other every day, and this project showed how small actions can make a real difference.”
Sending Christmas Cards to Combat Loneliness
Students wrote and sent a total of 2,500 handwritten Christmas cards as part of a festive initiative to spread connection and comfort.
1,700 Christmas cards were created and written by Travel and Tourism, and Sport and Leisure students in support of PostPals, a charity that connects volunteers with children living with life-limiting illnesses. Each card included a handwritten festive message of encouragement, helping to bring moments of happiness to children and their families.
The QE Volunteering Group also sent 800 Christmas cards to care home residents – helping them feel remembered, valued and connected with the world around them.
Student Lainey Newbury said:
“A simple Christmas card could bring real happiness. Taking the time to write a kind message could help someone feel remembered and valued, and it showed how small acts of kindness could have a significant impact.”
The initiative formed part of the students’ wider volunteering and community engagement work.
A Community United by Kindness
Across these initiatives, QE students and staff demonstrated empathy, social responsibility and the belief that small actions can create meaningful change – spreading warmth throughout Darlington and beyond. They helped deliver a clear and powerful message: community matters, especially at Christmas.
