Appeal to make Christmas merry for deprived families

AN ANNUAL appeal to help bring some Christmas cheer to the borough’s most deprived kids is underway.

The Christmas Toy Appeal is organised by Rotherham Borough Council and supported by Rother FM, Parkgate Shopping, and the Advertiser, as well as many other organisations.

Members of the public are asked to buy an extra gift with their Christmas shopping to be donated to a child or young person (from babies to 18-year-olds).

This year’s appeal will again involve the “giving trees” placed around the shopping park for anyone to collect a gift tag.

People can then buy a suitable present for the age and gender of child specified on the tag.

The present can be then be handed into either the store it was bought at or the Parkgate Security Office.

You can also leave donations of new (safety kite-marked) toys at Parkgate shopping (security office), Rotherham Town Hall and the Advertiser office, Wellgate.

Toys will then be passed to services to distribute to identified families.

The Toy Appeal is now in its tenth year, and the organisers are hoping to beat last year’s total of over a 1,000 toys which were collected and distributed to Rotherham families.