Christmas Toy Appeal Update

Local community doesn’t play around and donates hundreds of items to Christmas Toy Appeal!

Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Charity is delighted to announce that it received a HUGE response to its Christmas Toy Appeal, so much so that over 500 items were donated to help young patients over the festive period.

Most contributions were via the Charity’s Amazon Wish List, a carefully selected list of toys, games and other activities compiled by the hospitals’ Play Specialists. And while the majority of people chose to be Secret Santas, quite a few were keen to unveil their identities in order to thank staff for having cared for their own little ones in the past.

Local organisations also got involved by arranging collections among their employees or members including Cobham Scouts, Santander Sutton, Rosebery School, Sutton Synagogue, RWW Plumbing and Heating, Rotary Club Carshalton and the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association.

Items donated included plasticine and play-doh, colouring pencils and felt tip pens, stickers, fidget cubes, wooden railways, various craft activities and lots of seek-and-find books (with ‘Where’s the Unicorn Poo?’ proving a particular favourite!) and even a portable DVD player.

Play Specialists Emily King and Kristy Parrack said: “On behalf of our all our colleagues across the Trust’s children’s services, we wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has donated to the appeal. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of the public, especially when the pandemic continues to make life hard for so many people. Every single item is much appreciated and very welcome and really has helped us to spread some cheer among those children who still had to visit hospital during the festive period. What’s even better is that many of the items will be used throughout the year, so they’re not just for Christmas!”