The Secret Santa Service: An Introduction

The holiday season can be a time full of magic, happiness and joy for many families. However, this is not the case for a large number of communities, and instead can be a stressful and anxiety-inducing season for people who may be struggling. This is exactly why The Secret Santa Service was founded - to provide families and communities who may need some extra support during the holiday season with gifts for their children and families.

The Secret Santa Service did not originally start by delivering wrapped gifts door to door, however. Two years prior to the foundation of our charity, our co-founders, Teya and Tilly, wanted to make a difference in their community, and loved the idea of doing a toy drive. After planning this for months in 2023, and getting in contact with the Gold Coast University Hospital, Teya and Tilly dropped off a wagon full of toys for children in hospital over Christmas. Similar to this, the next year they got in contact with the Starlight Foundation, a non-profit charity that collects donated gifts for children in hospitals and surprises them on Christmas Day.

The work of this charity truly inspired Tilly and Teya, and in 2025, they wanted to reach a wider audience in order to help more people. They created a form, which became the base of the 'Application for Donation' form that is currently available to fill out at any time, and sent it out to communities on Facebook community pages. From this, they were able to help a wide range of families over Christmas, and yet still felt as though it could be bigger.

After numerous conversations regarding logistics, meetings in their dining rooms, and numerous forms filled out, and with a goal to help as many communities and families as possible, Teya and Tilly officially founded The Secret Santa Service. Their mission is to help bring magic and joy to families struggling to find it, and continue to uphold this goal.

Although starting out small, we hope to grow in the coming years in order to support the communities around us as much as possible, and hope that you will join us in aiding these families around the holiday season.

Christmastime has always been about giving back, and we strive to maintain the essence of the holiday season by serving our community to the fullest extent.