Founders of toy appeal bringing Christmas joy...
COUPLE PROVIDE PRESENTS FOR THOUSANDS OF NEEDY CHILDREN
A VAST sports hall is filled with more than 29,000 new toys, books and games.
Hundreds of volunteers are hard at work at the centre in Knutsford, sorting through them and carefully packing them into more than 3,700 big red sacks, each bearing a child’s name.
The content of every sack has been meticulously planned well in advance, with careful thought given to what each and every child who will receive them would like.
Once they are ready, 15 vans will make more than 20 trips to take the sacks to 110 different places around Manchester and Cheshire, ready to be given to families.
And Dee Drake, who founded The Toy Appeal with her husband, Chris, will finally be able to relax, knowing the relentless hard work she’s put in for the past 12 months has all been worth it. On Christmas morning, she will be thinking of the 3,713 children opening these sacks.
Children who otherwise might not have received any gifts at all. Children who are living in incredibly difficult circumstances.
Some of them are homeless, or have fled domestic abuse.
But thanks to the appeal, they won’t be without gifts this Christmas.
It was the incredible work of a Manchester community centre which inspired Dee and Chris to launch the appeal.
When the couple first visited the Lalley Centre in Collyhurst as volunteers six years ago, they never could have imagined how it would change their lives.
The Caritas-run centre offers a host of support and well-being services to the community, which included collecting toys for Christmas, for youngsters whose parents were facing tough financial circumstances.
Realising just how much hard work went into the toy collection, Dee and Chris offered to take it on – and since then it has become bigger than they ever could have imagined.
“The (Lalley Centre) were doing their own toy appeal for about 234 children, whose parents used the foodbank and services”, said Dee.
“Me and my husband had taken
some time off work and we went to volunteer at the Lalley Centre and we helped them with the toy appeal, but we realised it was a massive drain on all the good work they were doing all year round.
“We suggested we take on the toy appeal and make it much bigger, and that’s how The Toy Appeal was launched.”
To say the appeal has snowballed since then is a huge understatement.
In 2013, it helped 447 children, rising to 780 the following year, before smashing the 1,000 mark in 2015.
The following year they gave out 1,900 toy sacks, and last year it had risen to an incredible 3,000.
This year the appeal hit a major milestone – its 10,000th sack.
Everyone who receives a bag this year will also get help next year too which means Dee never lets the standard of the toy sacks slip.
As well as receiving donations of toys, the appeal also raises more than £65,000 to buy new toys from wholesalers, to make sure every child can be catered for.
“It’s really great that it’s grown because it means that we’ve had support from so many people, but it’s really sad that the demand is there for it. We’re both from Manchester and live in Knutsford now. We were both working, we both had good jobs in IT and you just don’t realise that level of poverty is just half an hour up the road.”
Careful thought goes into the contents of every sack, with each one bearing the name of the child who will receive it.
They all contain a main present, as well as a stocking filler, an arts and crafts item, a teddy bear, a board game, and two reading books.
Teenagers receive slightly smaller bags, but with more age-appropriate items they’ll really appreciate, such as watches.
The Toy Appeal works closely with schools, community centres and social workers, who provide them with a list of children who will receive the sacks. Find out more about the toy appeal at thetoyappeal.com.