Voly CEO Donates 344 Christmas Gifts to Children living in poverty
The Toy Appeal - Give a Child a Christmas
Operated by Dee and Chris Drake and a large team of volunteers, The Toy Appeal Charity is a charity that provides sacks of toys at Christmas to children, aged 0 – 17 years old, who are living in poverty.
The Appeal has been running since 2013. To date, they have made Christmas Day very special for over 42,000 children across the Northwest of England.
Social workers, schools, women’s refuges, food banks and drop-in centres, can refer a child or family to The Toy Appeal to ensure that they have presents to open on Christmas morning.
They believe that every child deserves to experience the magic of Christmas and The Toy Appeal steps in to help Father Christmas do this for thousands of children every year.
Providing toy sacks to children, regardless of race, religion and gender, as long as the child is referred via a social worker, a school, a food bank or a women’s refuge.
“This year 10th anniversary year, The Toy appeal have provided toy sacks to 10,600 children! We are thrilled to have the team from Voly come onboard and not just to support us but actually create the toy sacks, buy the toys and deliver the Christmas sacks to the schools! Just wonderful!
Dee Drake
Voly CEO Ian Flanagan, heard about the appeal and immediately wanted to get involved…
“Christmas is a time where we should all reflect on the past 12 months and what the future has in store for us.
It’s been a tough year for many families, not just in the UK but around the world. When you think about it, in times like this, we must try and appreciate what we have and how lucky we are. Because there are millions of people far less fortunate than us going through health problems, financial struggles and loss.
Having experienced some tough times and faced some real dark days personally, I take stock of the support I have. An amazing wife with two fantastic children Jack and Missy. Growing up I had the best parents I could have wished for. It makes you think about those who are going through challenges.
Charity is really important to me, I decided earlier this year to support as many charitable organisations that I could, and I hope to continue to grow this list into 2023 in any way, large or small.
The Toy Appeal immediately caught my attention, it’s a great charity, set up to provide Christmas presents for those living in poverty who are unable to provide gifts for their children. As a parent, I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like for any parent to be unable to provide a gift for their child at Christmas, nor what it would be like for a child to wake up excitedly on Christmas morning and find there are no gifts under the tree. I think every child should experience joy, especially on Christmas day.
I hope my contribution which is going to children throughout the North West, will make a small difference. I feel so passionate about this that and I commit to taking part again in The Toy Appear next year, 100%.
They do such a fantastic job, so many volunteers and donations from around the North West goes into helping children smile this Christmas.
Well done to The Toy Appeal, thank you for your hard work and thank you for having me onboard. I look forward to doing more next year.”
Voly CEO - Ian Flanagan
To find more about the great work being done by The Toy Appeal, visit their website: