Maidenhead pop-up toy shop raises thousands of reasons to smile
MAIDENHEAD: A pop-up toy shop organised by volunteers of a Maidenhead-based children’s charity has raised thousands in six weeks.
Organised by volunteers, Alexander Devine Children Hospice Service’s Spring Pop-Up Toy Shop, located in the old H&M unit in the Nicholsons Centre, opened every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from early April until mid-May.
Over the six-week period the shop raised more than £21,000.
The shop sold a range of new or ‘good as new’ games, toys, puzzles, and books that had been donated and averaged almost £1,200 a day.
All the money from every item sold goes directly to the hospice, which provides specialist care and vital support to babies, children and young people with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions and their families in the area.
A pop-up toy shop was previously run just before Christmas and, together with this spring event, the team has raised £50,000 in the last six months.
Helen Johnson, one of the organisers of the Maidenhead Fundraising Group, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with this incredible achievement. This is by far the most we have ever raised at this time of year in one of our pop-up toy shops.
“A massive thank you to everyone who supported our shop, especially our regular customers who eagerly came back each week to see what new stock we had.
“We also want to extend our gratitude to everyone who generously dropped off books, toys and games to our hub in Maidenhead.”
Debbie Tonkinson, volunteer development manager at Alexander Devine, said: “What these volunteers have achieved is remarkable. Running these pop-up toy shops takes a huge amount of effort and we can’t thank them enough for all their hard work and dedication.
“They really are such special people and we are so lucky to have them as volunteers.
“We also want to thank everyone who has donated items or visited the shop.”