Demand for Xmas appeal trebles on previous year

Organised by Dundee City Council in partnership with Help for Kids and Tesco, the Christmas Toy appeal is looking to distribute at least £70,000 worth of gifts.

Children likely to benefit from the initiative this year have been identified by professional agencies and referred to Discover Opportunities.

The group aims to improve the situations families are in so they can be removed from the list by the following year.

Kiley West, of Discover Opportunities, said there has been a record demand this year for gifts for children who are suffering from poverty — with three times the number of children on the referral list to receive gifts compared with last year.

She said: “I don’t know if this is because the demand is that much greater or if it’s because we are getting better at our administration, but it’s concerning.

“Leading up to Christmas, some of the social workers we work alongside have told us they are seeing levels of poverty they have never seen before.”

To raise funds towards the appeal, the Opportunities for All team is holding a quiz at Broughty Ferry’s Fort Hotel tonight, which Kiley hopes will be well-supported.

She said: “Although there is a lot of hard work goes into this every year, it’s not about us.

“It’s about the people that benefit from the generosity of the people of Dundee.

“One thing we are recognising is that there are quite a lot of toys needed for older children this year, compared with previous years.

“We are just asking people to be as generous as they can, as a small gesture can make a huge difference to people’s lives.”

Kiley added that despite gifts being in high demand, the organisation badly needs people’s time in order to wrap the gifts from December 12 onwards.

Last year, the appeal, which has received the backing of Dundee band The View, raised more than £70,000 worth of gifts, which were donated to children across this city and this year organisers hope to surpass that.

Kiley said the appeal could have as many as 10,000 parcels this year.

Anyone who would like to donate a gift, or their time, can contact Kiley at the Christmas Toy Appeal on 01382 434 460.

A SCHEME aimed at helping thousands of children enjoy Christmas has received three times as many referrals as this time last year.

Kiley West, of Discover Opportunities, with some of the gifts for the appeal. The team has received three times as many referrals as last year.

Items donated for auction.