Toy Drive 2023: Spread Joy This Christmas
Christmas, the season to spend time with your loved ones and to show your appreciation through the act of giving a gift. Unfortunately, we know that this can be a challenging time for some families. The cost-of-living crisis means that many children and young people may be looking towards a bleak Christmas indeed without support from charities and programs aiming to bring Christmas joy to those in need.
As with last Christmas, we donated a selection of toys, puzzles, and games to Southend Council’s Toy Drive - now in it’s tenth year. Started by Southend-on-Sea City Council's benefits team back in 2013, we are proud to support this initiative which ensures every child in the city has a new toy at Christmas.
Since the Toy Drive began, more than 31,000 gifts have been donated through local charities and programs thanks to the kindness of local businesses and individuals who have got on board to support and donate. These gifts are distributed to local children’s centres, food banks, refugees, and children’s parties set up by local charities, and are given to vulnerable children and young people who may otherwise not have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas.
Wayland Games supporting Southend-on-Sea City Council’s Toy Drive
Scouring through our website, we selected gifts from brands such as LEGO, Orchard Toys, Funko, Dobble, and Ticket to Ride to ensure we offered a good selection of toys suitable for children and young people aged 3-17 years of age. Organising delivery was easy, thanks to the councils elves, so we dropped our donations off mid-November to make sure they could be gift wrapped with plenty of time for the festivities in December.
How can you support children and young people in your community?
If you want to support your local community this holiday season, there’s plenty you can do:
Check your local council, school, or community centre’s website to see if a Toy Drive is being run in your area.
Donate old or unwanted toys and clothing to your local Charity shop.
Donate new toys directly to your local Hospital’s Children’s Ward.
Give to, or volunteer at, your local Food Bank or Community Kitchen.
Support your local Community Fridge by donating unwanted food from your cupboards.
Do check in with anywhere you intend to donate gifts or food to as there may be certain criteria that need to be met prior to them accepting donations.
Merry Christmas from Wayland Games
We want to wish all our customers a very Merry Christmas indeed and hope that everyone enjoys the holidays as we spend time together - preferably whilst winning at a game of Blood Bowl!
