Together, we can make a difference
This Christmas, Smarta Energy is taking on its biggest festive fundraising challenge yet! Lee Jacques and Kieran Dixon will walk 99km from our Leeds office to LaplandUK Manchester, with members of Team Smarta joining them for sections of the route.
Our goal is to raise £10,000 and help Cash for Kids make Christmas brighter for children and young people who might otherwise go without.
Introducing Cash for Kids North and West Yorkshire
For many of us, Christmas morning means familiar traditions, excited voices and something waiting beneath the tree, but for families already struggling to cover food, heating and other essentials, Christmas can bring another layer of worry. For some children, it could mean waking up without a single present to open.
Cash for Kids is a grant-giving Charity, dedicated to helping the children who need it most, from the moment they are born, to 18 years old. Their mission is to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and young people in our communities who are affected by poverty, illness, neglect or have additional needs. They work with grassroots organisations that aim to make a difference to young lives, directly supporting families who often have nowhere else to go.
We cannot remove every difficulty a family may be facing. But together, we can help make Christmas morning feel a little brighter,and help a child feel seen, remembered and included.
Cash for Kids, North and West Yorkshire helped 16,600 Children through Mission Christmas in 2025
16,600
2,047 children were helped who were fighting poverty in 2025.
2,047
Through Cash for Kids, 1,737 children struggling with education and essential skills were helped in 2025
1,737
Why we are taking part
Christmas should be a time of excitement, joy and belonging. However, for thousands of families across North and West Yorkshire, it can bring financial pressure, uncertainty and the reality of being unable to provide a magical day for young people who need it most.
Cash for Kids Mission Christmas helps disadvantaged children and young people receive a gift to open on Christmas morning, a way for them to feel loved, and included, not just on the day but, when they return to school where conversations revolve around 'what did you get for Christmas?'
This campaign is about more than placing a present under the tree. It is about giving a child a moment of happiness and reminding them that their community cares. It's about giving parents/guardians a bit of extra magic at Christmas. When bills are already high and financial pressures feel uncertain, the community should be able to help provide that magical smile on Christmas morning.
The Leeds to Lapland Challenge
Lee and Kieran are taking on the full 99km (approximately 60 miles!) journey from Smarta Energy’s Leeds office to LaplandUK Manchester. They will not be walking alone, as members of Team Smarta will be joining them for different sections of the route, helping to keep the challenge moving and raising sponsorship along the way. We will also have special guests on the day, who will be joining the challenge.
Every kilometre will help us move closer to our £10,000 fundraising target.
Challenge date: Tuesday, 3rd November 2026
Distance: 99km
Fundraising target: £10,000
Supporting: Cash for Kids Mission Christmas
Supporting Fundraising Activities
This autumn, colleagues across Smarta Energy are coming together to raise funds, collect gifts and volunteer in support of Cash for Kids’ Mission Christmas, all to help us reach our ambitious goal of £10,000.
From fundraising walks and office competitions to donating gifts and volunteering, every activity will help Cash for Kids support children and young people who may otherwise go without a present this Christmas.
Halloween Fundraising Week
Our Leeds team will kick off the campaign with a week of Halloween activities, including office decorations, sweet treats and a possible fancy-dress competition.
Further details will be announced internally.
Leeds to Lapland Fundraiser
Kieran and Lee will take on a fundraising walk from Smarta Energy’s Leeds office to Manchester. The challenge will raise money and awareness for Mission Christmas, with colleagues, clients and partners encouraged to support their journey.
Coventry War Memorial Park Walk
Our Coventry colleagues will take part in a fundraising walk at War Memorial Park.
Members of the Smarta Energy team will also attend to support the walkers and capture highlights from the day.
Christmas Arrives in Coventry
The Smarta Energy Coventry office will be transformed for Christmas, marking the start of its festive fundraising and gift-collection activities.
Decorate Your Desk Competition
Colleagues can bring in their own festive decorations and transform their workspaces in exchange for a donation to Cash for Kids. Kayleigh, our Cash for Kids representative, will judge the entries and select the winner.
Coventry Gift Collection
All gifts donated by colleagues at our Coventry office will be collected and prepared for delivery to Cash for Kids, ready to support local children and young people this Christmas.
Christmas Tree Gift tags
Smarta staff and guests can pick a gift tag from our Christmas tree and buy the suggested present for a child. Then they return a new, unwrapped gift and help make their Christmas morning a little brighter.
Gift Delivery and Volunteering
Smarta Energy donated gifts will be transported to the Cash for Kids warehouse before spending the morning volunteering with the team and helping to prepare gifts for distribution.
Christmas Jumper Day
Colleagues across Smarta Energy will be invited to wear their best, or most questionable, Christmas jumpers (or colourful jumpers) and make a donation to Cash for Kids.
The difference we can make
For those that celebrate, children should wake up on the 25th December with hope, not dread. They shouldn't want to hide under the sheets, knowing they'll hear those words again.
I'm sorry....
I'm sorry I couldn't get you X. I'm sorry we can't have the big light on. I'm sorry I couldn't get you what your friend has. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Parent's and guardians shouldn't feel like they have failed, especially when they are trying so hard to provide the basic essentials, let alone gifts.
If you are reading this, if you are looking around at what you have, the warmth of your heating, the feel of fluffy clothes on your body, a belly of food, knowing that tomorrow you will still have a roof over your head, the ability to place presents under the tree this year, think about all the young people that go without, through no fault of their own. Think about how one gift could be the difference between complete isolation, feeling forgotten, unloved, and feeling like you are part of the magical world of Christmas.
One gift, one donation, that's all it takes to make a child feel seen.
We all want to feel included, to feel like part of the magical world of Christmas. No one should feel less than just because the world is an expensive place .
When we work together, we can make so many young people feel the magic of Christmas, we can make parents/guardians feel like they can breath again, like the weight of expecatations has been lifted, even for a day, a moment in time where magic truly is alive.