How We Work and our Timetable

The Great Notts Christmas Toy Appeal has been collecting toys for the children of Nottingham and the county since 1972 when it started life as part of the charity, Family Care. Our trustees, collectors and volunteers work all year round to make sure we are ready for Christmas!

If you can help in any way, get in touch and join us. It's great fun!

From January onwards we are collecting toys in the sales and looking out for the best deals. Some people also choose to make a small, regular donation, throughout the year, via bank transfer if they can't buy toys themselves. These little amounts, however small, help us very much in December, because it gives us a fund that we can call on in an emergency, such as those occasions when we run out of toys for a particular age group.

Other people are knitting and making blankets or soft toys to donate nearer the end of the year.

We all keep in touch via the Facebook group and people can contact the organisers of the appeal at anytime. We are always pleased to hear from supporters and anyone interested in joining and to answer any questions.

We are hoping, in the future, to organise fundraising events or just socials at this time of year, so keeping in touch is great. The trustees also meet throughout the year to reflect back on the previous year's campaign and plan the next one.

By Autumn, the churches amongst our collectors, have fixed the dates of their toy services and the business and community groups are downloading their artwork from our website, in preparation for running their own campaigns.

These must be underway by November, as collection times will be short. The first week in December is when we receive all the toys brought in through our collection points.

By this time of year, some people will have been saving items all year or come across large items they have not been able to store.Those have been taken into our storage by the appeal, who are always willing to take toys at any time and keep them safe. They are brought in with everything else to the collecvtion point and for three days, twenty volunteers a day will supervise their sorting and distribution. We call this time an extended Christmas party with added toys, because it's a great time for everyone. An all day cafe runs and volunteers, past and present, gather to meet with agencies who are collecting toys for their children and the people providing them. At the end of those three days, our toys are all gone. We will still be collecting donations after this time of course, as some agencies have requested any spare toys coming in late (such is the need) so we are usually busy right up to Christmas week. We try to match the supply with the demand and during these three days, a car crew is on standby, to dash to the shops and spend some of the money gathered earlier in the year. This helps us top up age groups areas where we run short of gifts during the collection days. In reality, this is usually selection boxes and toiletries which go very quickly. It can be a difficult balancing act, but up to now, we have provided what's needed to over two thousand children every year!

Sound good? We need your help! If you want to join us, it's very informal and we aim to use whatever talents you have! Could your school, church, business or community group organise a collection of toys? Could you hold a fundraiser? Would you like to collect as an individual? Fancy working as a volunteer or just want to help through a donation? We want to hear from you! Get in touch using the contact button on every page.