Toy donation in the north east

CHEAP_AS_CHIPS_4

Hi all,

i am having a clearout in time for xmas, and with 3 girls have loads of surplas toys that are just to good to through away.

i would love to donate them to a charity, hospice, hospital but can not find any?

does any one have any ideas

thank you

foreign_correspondent

Please DO NOT send any used/played with toys to your local hospice or hospital - I used to work in childrens services in a large hospital - every year we got lots of toys donated by very kind and well meaning people - sadly, we were unable to use almost all of these because of infection control.

Clean, used toys do not pose a problem to healthy kids, but sick kids are so vulnerable to bugs that it really isnt safe to give them anything that might harbour any bugs and germs. Soft toys are the worst culprit, as they are almost impossible to clean properly.

Hand-made toys are also of no use to hospitals, as they are not kite/CE marked, so may pose a hazard - a hospital cannot put the kids in their care at risk from this- although, again, for kids supervised by a parent at home, they may be good playthings.

Every chistmas we used to have a load of stuff to sort through. I hated seeing it binned, so introduced a donations policy to avise people on what to send if they wished to donate, and made links with local charities that could use our stuff. Charities involved in rehoming women and children/families were generally very apreciative of clean, used toys in good condition, and I hope they made some kids happy! However, it was still a drain on our manpower to sort it all, and I used to ship it across town in my car after work.

If you want specifically to a hospital, only new, unused, still in their packaging toys are suitable!

Have a look to see if their are any family charities/womens refuges etc nearby, but do ring them first and see if they can use them, and please dont be offended if for any reason they cannot! It is hard having to turn people down, especially when you know they are acting out of kindness and generosity!

If not, perhaps donate them to a charity shop - that way you may help a low income family who cannot afford expensive christmas gifts, and supports the charity too!

please do let us know where you are?? I may know of suitable charities nearby

avaline_2

I try to give to the local Women's Aid ("Battered Wives Home" in old speak) as the kids there often arrive with only the clothes on their backs & little or nothing in the way of toys.

I know of two in the NE, but at Christmas they often get presents from organised charity drives (local TV & Radio for example) so might not be as welcoming of your donations as you might expect - space is extremely limited. However they almost always need good, clean clothes & shoes.

What might be better is to donate to a charity shop. Families with very little to spend at Xmas often buy one or two new things then "bulk up" with good quality second hand toys & games (been there, done that!). That way the families dont feel like they're charity cases as they're still paying for the stuff, and the charity itself benefits too - so you're kind of giving twice.

Hope this helps!

Eagle_1

Try the local radio stations, I know Alpha and TFM radio stations do Christmas gifts for the needy. I beleive Asda stores have collection boxes for them.

Another worthy cause are The Air Ambulance. Im actually waiting for them to come round my area again as I have approx 4 bin bags of cuddly toys needing a home and want them to go to this charity as its a very worthy cause.

vivatifosi

I'd also check to see if there is a local toy library. They may take toys in good condition providing they are CE marked/meet all current legislation. My cousin and Sis in law used to run the local one here and they would go to local toy sales to buy good second hand stuff.

inkie

Local church P & T groups?