Congratulations to all 1020 club members, you helped to raise the magnificent sum of £1,000 for the Salvation Army Christmas Toy Appeal which helps hundreds of local families bringing a bit of extra joy to young people over the festive season.
The fund raising began at the December club night when the Winton Salvation Army Band; played a selection of Christmas carols with lots of audience participation encouraged – there was even a battle of the sexes with the male choir definitely providing the most volume.
Many of the bandsmen and women left our meeting after their performance to go straight to their main toy collection point where they were wrapping the presents already collected.
A bumper monthly raffle featured a selection of higher value Christmas themed prizes and on its own raised almost £200 for the appeal. This was supplemented by some very generous personal cash donations from individuals. The final total exceeded our previous efforts by some distance.
Responding to the donation, Winton Salvation Army Captain James Hill said: “£1,000 is amazing. Thank you so much. This will make a tremendous difference to the help that we can give. Toys really make a difference to families who have nothing.
“The first lot of toys were sent to social workers and schools and then we were packing more toys as the referrals came in. We spent nearly £2,000 in local toy shops to purchase toys.”
James added that although the big push comes at Christmas, they support families who fall on hard times and run into poverty throughout the year. They recently provided a local family with blow-up mattresses, six bags of clothes and a microwave.
“We were able to give them furniture and household items but also toys for the children. There were a lot of smiles and joyful tears that day.”