The Toy Trust shares its latest support for children’s charities, plus ways the industry can get involved and upcoming events to look forward to.
The Toy Trust’s support for small, local charities is where the organisation sees its biggest impact. Here are three of the charities that have benefited from the toy industry’s involvement:
Friends of Holcot
Friends of Holcot is a well-run community charity, based in Kent. Toy Trust funding provided a special trip to the Christmas pantomime for 126 underprivileged children to enjoy a festive outing together at the end of a difficult year. The funding provided transport and a ‘treat bag’ of sweets and surprises for each of the children that attended.
Lesley Andrews, Community Project coordinator said: “We are so thankful to the Toy Trust for enabling this special trip to the theatre for our young people who would not have been able to enjoy this sort of trip without help. This will will have made their Christmas, thank you.”
Dingley’s Promise
This Reading based charity supports over 150 under-5s with additional needs and disabilities and their families by providing specialist learning, family support and training, plus offering advice to families. The Toy Trust funding provided support for the group’s Covid-19 response, a new sensory garden and transport costs for getting children to their centres.
Catherine McLeod, chief executive of Dingley’s Promise, commented: “It is with the support of valuable partners like the Toy Trust that we are able to continue our vital services for children in our care. We are so grateful to all those that fundraise for the Toy Trust for their support.”
WHISH
Helping children with hidden impairments and their families in Whitby and the surrounding area, WHISH is a support group, set up by parents, to give children positive experiences and support their families. Hidden impairments include autism, dyspraxia, epilepsy, ADHD and many others.
The grant WHISH received from The Toy Trust helped the group to support children and their parents ensure their social and emotional needs were met in the most difficult circumstances during the pandemic. WHISH identified that many members were falling behind in their education, with online learning proving difficult to access and manage for many children and young people with hidden impairments. As a result, they created a Loan Box scheme, where families could borrow a box tailored to their child’s needs. Each box would support and assist them in attaining the correct levels at their Key Stage in the core subjects of Maths and Literacy, Science and History, with volunteers delivering and collecting boxes as required.
Alongside the loan box scheme, a need was identified for online activities which could be accessed through Zoom to ensure members had opportunities to socialise and stay in touch. Anxiety, loneliness, feelings of isolation and the lack routine were areas which repeatedly came up as problematic during telephone/zoom support sessions with parents.
WHISH provided a therapeutic online and in person Yoga session including mat, blocks, and a belt, to members, with a teacher via zoom. This ensured that young people would have a weekly activity benefitting their social and emotional needs as well as
The Toy Trust would like to thank those members of the industry that have shown support over the last year. Its work is ongoing and the team and welcomes further involvement over the coming months.Below are just some of the Trust’s upcoming events in which toy companies can get involved.
The Toy Trust Media Auction will be going live on 25th January. The auction sees media partners donate airtime, print and other items for the industry to bid on. Closing bids must be made by 5pm on 27th January. Last year, the auction raised over £72k.
The Toy Trust Big Challenge will take place this year in June, and details will be announced shortly.
For more on the work of the Toy Trust, visit the website here.
If you would like to make a donation, visit justgiving.com/toy-trust.
