THERE will be thousands of smiles on Christmas Day, thanks to customers of a toy shop.
The Reading branch of The Entertainer on Broad Street joined up with the Salvation Army to take part in the national Big Toy Appeal, which aims to provide underprivileged children with a gift to unwrap.
Customers were encouraged to pick up an extra toy for the appeal when they visited The Entertainer in store or online. For each of the 12,000 toys donated by a customer, The Entertainer matched their donations as well as extra toys bringing the total number of donations to over 33,000 for the Big Toy Appeal.
The Entertainer says that providing Christmas presents for children can place additional pressure on families where budgets are already incredibly stretched – with many families turning to charities like The Salvation Army for support; using foodbanks and other donations to help them through the Christmas period.
Covid-19 has had a huge financial impact on many of the country’s families. The aim of The Big Toy Appeal is to alleviate some of this strain by providing toys for families in need, so children can have some presents to open at Christmas.
Tony Daniels, The Salvation Army’s director of community services, said: “This has been a really challenging year for many families. It is really important to them to give their children gifts at Christmas, and The Entertainer and their generous customers have helped make that a reality for many families who otherwise would have been denied that joy.
“We are very grateful to the Entertainer and their customers for their help in making this happen.”
Gary Grant, founder and executive chairman at The Entertainer said: “We are so grateful for the generosity of our customers.
“Each year, The Big Toy Appeal has been able to support even more families, with over 90,000 toys now donated since 2018.
“Enjoying the wonder of Christmas should be part and parcel of every child’s life, but the last two years have been among the most difficult that many families will ever face. Thanks to the kindness of our customers, thousands more families will be able to make memories this Christmas.”
