Our 2021 Charity Toy Collection was a little different this year. This year we teamed up with the incredible CoLab Exeter and three other local charities to make Christmas special for vulnerable children, located across the South West. With just two weeks’ notice, we asked for your help and wow, did you deliver…
Our 2021 Toy Collection:
Collaborating with local charities throughout the year has always been a large part of our agenda as a business, but our Christmas charity toy collection has always been a special one for us. Bringing smiles to those that need it most, at what should be a magical time of year for everyone, makes every effort worthwhile.
In previous years we have raised incredible donations for the children at the RD&E Hospital’s, Bramble Ward (pictured below) but this year we mixed things up and formed strong relationships with the wonderful team at CoLab Exeter. They arranged for donations to be made to three wonderful charities, which support and protect families who all needed our help this year.
In total, we were looking to donate toys and presents to 113 children aged 2 months – 16 years. With a time frame of only two weeks, we were inundated with generous gifts and toys for these children; so much so, we had more to give to other families in need.
The Charities:
CoLab Exeter is a wonderful charity that helped us launch this year’s appeal. They are an integrated, cross-sector wellbeing and innovation hub delivering a multitude of vital services to those they work alongside. These services include mental ill-health, homelessness, domestic and sexual violence and abuse, substance misuse, (re)offending, and poverty. The team’s goal is to improve lives by improving the context in which support for change occurs, as well as delivering meaningful and relevant services.
More Positive Me is a community interest company that works with people who have been impacted by domestic abuse, with a focus on empowerment and encouragement to move forward.
Promoting Choice is a 2-year project running until March 2023. It is a partnership between Splitz Devon and Resilient Women CoLab Exeter, providing services across Devon and Torbay. The aim of the charity is to improve access to pre and post-natal care, early years care, and parental health care for women and their families. The focus is on women and their families who face individual, structural or cultural barriers to accessing and engaging with existing services. Many of the women struggle financially and with Christmas coming up, greatly benefit from toys they can give as Christmas presents to their children to alleviate some of the stresses this time of year can bring.
Due to the highly sensitive nature of the third charity, the name is unable to be disclosed.
The Result!
The result? Well, it was phenomenal! The kindness of our community never ceases to amaze us. We are grateful to every company and individual who took the time to drop in a present or send us a donation to buy toys, no matter how big or small. It is thanks to you that these families will be able to enjoy Christmas and have the day that they truly deserve. We honestly can’t thank you enough.
“Thank you so much for your AMAZING donations. We have been blown away by the kindness and generosity of everyone. With the number of toys we have received, we may even be able to help more families in temporary accommodation this Christmas too!” – CoLab Exeter
“The absolute joy of seeing of seeing the families faces, receiving unexpected gifts is so magical.” – More Positive Me.
