I was recently invited to a ‘Stella & Dot’ jewellery party with accompanying toy donation and raffle at MLP Solicitors in Altrincham. Whilst not always my thing, the party was actually very enjoyable and I met a lot of new and interesting people. Amongst those was Dee Drake who gave a hugely inspiring talk on her work with the The Lalley Toy Appeal; her words certainly struck a chord with me and everyone else who was there.
The Toy Appeal, operating in conjunction with The Lalley Centre, was started in 2013 and its purpose is to provide children living in poverty in the Greater Manchester area with presents to open on Christmas Day. Thousands of families around Manchester go each Christmas with zero presents whatsoever and The Lalley Centre is at the frontline to try and reduce that number to as few as possible. Each toy sack is made specifically for each child, based on their age, gender and any special needs they may have.
After hearing the talk Dee gave I saw no reason why MRC couldn’t step up to the plate and try to make our own pile of Christmas presents that could be sleighed off to the Lalley Centre. This is exactly what we did and I would like say a very big thank you to all those in our team who contributed to what turned out to be a very sizeable pile of gifts.
To find out more about the fantastic work this charity do and ways in which you can help please take a look at their website https://lalleytoyappeal.com
Sally
