Gift initiative for East Cork's homeless children sees list grow from 60 to 300 

As homelessness increases, one Cork man is preparing for the ninth year of his Christmas toy drive for children who will be homeless this Christmas.

Ashley Gould, who is in the Defence Forces and owner of A+ Fitness in Cobh, has been getting more local sports teams and clubs involved to his annual collection for homeless children.

He started the initiative after having kids himself and realising how some children will be less fortunate at this special time of year – with the help of local clubs, he ensures they have a gift to open on December 25.

Homelessness services Edel House and Good Shepherd provide him with a list each year of all the children they support that will be homeless at Christmas.

This year, there are 295 names on the list, and Mr Gould told The Echo: “We’re hoping to fill it twice.” Local clubs get involved, including his own clients past and present at A+Fitness, Springfield Ramblers football club, where his sons play and he coaches, as well as Coral Leisure Cobh, Cove Boxing Club, Great Island Athletics Club along with Mr Gould’s family and friends.

Mr Gould’s Defence Forces colleagues also get involved, with each group saying how many children they can cater for and then receiving a list of names and ages of children so they can buy age-appropriate gifts.

On Saturday December 5, they will all come together in Cobh GAA Hall to give the gifts to the service providers, who will distribute them amongst the children in need.

Mr Gould said that demand has increased, from around 60 children homeless the first year of the event to nearly 300 this year.

“The numbers are just astronomical, the biggest they’ve ever been,” he said, but added that more and more clubs get involved to support the initiative every year too.