Pinnacle Surveyors Toy Appeal 2022

Every year we like to get involved with a Christmas Toy Appeal, so that we can provide presents for the children, who, due to their family circumstances, will not receive any presents on Christmas Day.

Previous years we have been involved with The Great Notts Toy Appeal but this year we were able to contact the Derby City Mission to help out with their Christmas Connection project. We collected gifts through the whole of November right up until the day of organising. We would like to thank our colleagues, families and friends for all they have contributed. We also received gifts from Gateway Surveyors and Sort Refer, which we all really appreciate.

After collecting a whopping 245 toys to donate to the project, it was time to help collating all the gifts to donate to the families, combined with all the other toys from various companies. A group of us went to deliver the toys so they could be sorted ready for picking and distribution.

We also went to Derby City Mission on Tuesday 6th December to help out. We were provided with the child’s name, gender, age bracket and any interests they had. For example; sports, personal care, interactive play etc. Everything was very helpfully laid out into sections and age groups, with areas such as 12+ toys, 8+ Crafts and 12 to 18 month toys, to name a few examples.

Once you had your bag and child’s description, you were on your way. For under 8’s, this was selecting 2 toys, a soft toy, a book, a leaflet/book from the Derby City Mission and if possible, some age appropriate chocolate or sweets. Over 8’s received 2 toys, a craft/art item, a book, a leaflet/book and some sweets or chocolate. For any families with more then one child, this was an opportunity to give the oldest child a selection box for the whole family.

We had a great time, with coffee, tea and biscuits supplied for us too! It was so lovely to select gifts for the children who will no longer go without, knowing that they can open presents on Christmas morning with a smile on their face. We are already thinking about how we can better our appeal for next year, after seeing what items and ages we might need to get a few more things for next time.