The Toy Appeal - making Christmas special for children who need it most.

On Monday 9th December I visited the ‘Toy Sort’: a mass present-wrapping phenomenon for the Toy Appeal in Knutsford. Over 2 days, a team of festive volunteers gather together to wrap, sort and pack in excess of 45,000 presents before delivering them to underprivileged families throughout the North West.

This feat of organisation takes place in the sports hall at Egerton Football Club, managed by Toy Appeal founders Dee and Chris Drake. On my way to there, I passed the traffic team who were busy marshalling vehicles down the lane and an impressive marquee serving as HQ for deliveries. Once inside, I was greeted by a friendly elf who showed me the way to the canteen so I could to deliver a box of biscuits I’d brought for the team (not quite realising that one box of McVities wouldn’t go very far with the hundreds of volunteers there that day!). As I waited to meet the inspirational lady behind all this, I quietly watched the teams wrap the presents and the TLs (Team Leaders) give instruction to the willing volunteers. Once the presents are wrapped, they are placed eightfold into red sacks before being carefully labelled and loaded onto the vans ready to be delivered.

This year’s target was 5,000 sacks. And they did it.

Although most of the presents go into sacks, there were some being individually labelled. I learnt that these were going to Styal women’s prison; where children will visit their Mums for a special party and be given a present to take home. There was a beautiful doll being wrapped for a little girl who was five.

Dee arrived looking suitably festooned in Christmas attire with a smile from ear to ear (although I did notice she wasn’t wearing any mascara, which I now know to be an expert tip for this emotional event). When I commented about how calm she seemed, she joked about not being needed any more as this well-oiled machine now almost runs itself. Although she did share with me that tensions had risen the night before when,

“a bag containing 10 rolls of sellotape went missing and Chris was the last person to have been seen with them!”

She proudly showed me every section of operations then took me into the sports hall. Presents stood like turrets around the room and volunteers systematically worked through their stations. As luck would have it, some special guests were about to arrive - 11 children from local nursery Kids Allowed had come to hand deliver their presents and sing Christmas songs for everyone. Dee told me,

‘There’s nothing nicer than children giving to other children.”

As part of an emotional thank you speech, Dee told the room that she’d like to take the number of sacks from 5,000 this year to 10,000 next year. Standing next to Chris at the time, I won’t tell you what his reply was to that!

Jokes aside, Chris explained that this year’s budget for toys was £125,000. Around 80% of this budget comes through financial donations and the rest made up of physical donations of toys that are taken to the various drop-off points. The team of volunteers who plan, wrap, sort and deliver the toys are a special crew indeed; local businesses, families, people just willing to give their time to help. Thanks to their dedication and support, every penny raised gets spent on delivering toys to the children.

The Toy Appeal began in 2013, when a burnt-out Dee decided it was time to do something a little more meaningful than the daily grind. A brief time in the world of charity highlighted the inevitable flaws of organisations running on low budgets and limited volunteer hours which prompted Dee, along with husband Chris, to set up the Toy Appeal. In their first year, they sent 500 sacks to children in the local area. Six years later and the Toy Appeal now sends out sacks to 5,000 children all over the North West. Toys are delivered to schools, social centres, prisons and drop-in centres. With eight toys per sack, over 45,000 toys are being sent out this year to help make Christmas that little bit more special for those who need it the most.

The Toy Appeal is one of the local charities that we have been able to support with the Knutsford Beer Festival Community Fund; offering small grants to local charities and Community Interest Groups. If you’d like to apply for a small grant, have a look at our Community Fund page.

You can read more about the Toy Appeal and how to get involved here: https://thetoyappeal.com

Author: Rachel Bishop, lover of beer and supporter of the Knutsford Community.