THE Hexham branch of the Salvation Army has given thanks for the incredible support of this year's Toy Appeal which was able to assist at least 70 families.
Jason Wearmouth,who works for the Hexham branch, said: "We were supported this year by Aligned Family Chiropractic, who for many years have faithfully helped us by collecting toys for the appeal. We had support from Tesco who collected many trolley loads of toys. As well as this, Egger collected toys as part of a staff-led initiative which helped bolster the amount of toys donated this year."
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The Toy Appeal supports the local community by providing gifts for families across Hexham and surrounding areas, who would otherwise not have been able to afford toys for their children this Christmas.
Jason said this year alone, the charity supported at least 70 local families.
He added: "We have worked with social services who distribute the bulk of the gifts to families they work with, and Hexham Youth Project who collected gifts for families they are supporting. As well as this, we supplied gifts to families who reached out to us for help and families we were already aware of that needed support from us.
"This is my third Toy Appeal while working for Hexham Salvation Army. However, I believe the appeal has been running here for well over 10 years.
"The Toy Appeal is vitally important not just in Hexham, but across The Salvation Army UK territory.
"This is because there are many families in need who otherwise would go without gifts for their children at Christmas, and with the current cost-of-living crisis we are going through the need increased. We are so thankful for the generosity of the people in Hexham who have been able to give to our appeal this year."
Jason added: "We support people through our relationship with another local charity called Gateway into the Community. We do this by getting some of their service users involved with cooking, serving, setting up and cleaning up at our Lunch Club. This enables them to learn and develop new skills and work as part of a team."
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