Charities and community groups are being urged to sign up for a new project set up to ensure every child gets a present and a fresh meal this Christmas.
Supermarket chain Lidl has launched an appeal for toy donations as part of their drive to ease the financial pressure on struggling families this festive season.
It comes after a recent survey with Lidl’s charity partners found that toys and games are currently the second most needed items after food donations.
The supermarket will open toy banks at all of its stores across the UK, where customers will be able to drop off new and unopened toys from November 3.
Donations can be a wide variety of items for a range of ages – including toys, games, books and puzzles, as well as arts and crafts, and stocking fillers.
All of the sought-after items will later be collected by local charities, food banks and community centres taking part in the scheme and gifted to children from the area.
Steve Butterworth, chief executive of Neighbourly, which conducted the survey, said the results have highlighted the financial strain that many families are facing this winter.
He said: “With local charities seeing a drop in both food and financial donations, any support that Lidl customers can give is going to be critical.
“For many families, Christmas gifts will be something they will struggle to afford, so a scheme like this which alleviates some of the worry for parents will make a huge difference.”
Drive to make positive impact on local communities
As part of the supermarket’s long-standing work within local communities, Lidl will also donate a selection of festive food items as part of its regular food donations.
These will go to local charities and community groups, which – together with their food surplus programme – will equate to over one million meals.
In addition, the supermarket plans to also give away £250,000 to charities during the festive period – including a £125,000 donation for the toy bank initiative.
While existing charity partnerships will be prioritised for the festive collections, additional charities and community groups are being invited to apply and take part.
Depending on availability, they will be paired with a local Lidl store to collect toys and fresh food products – including fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, fish, and bread – ahead of stores closing on Christmas Eve.
Ryan McDonnell, chief executive officer at Lidl GB, hopes the initiative will have a wide-spread positive impact on local communities.
He said: “We listened to the 1,500 local charities, food banks and community groups we partner with and heard clearly what they needed: food, toys and access to funds.
“Our hope is that by rolling out the toy donation points we are making it easier for customers to donate directly to local good causes, and giving them a small way to make a real difference and help those that need it the most.”
Charities, community groups and food banks can apply to receive surplus food and toy donations this Christmas until October 31 on Neighbourly’s website.
Conversation