Northampton you did us proud! More than 1,500 gifts donated to our Christmas Toy Appeal

Hundreds of children and teenagers in Northampton will get the chance to open a present this Christmas because of you.
Thousands of gifts have been donated to the Chron's Christmas Toy Appeal - by you, our readers.Thousands of gifts have been donated to the Chron's Christmas Toy Appeal - by you, our readers.
Thousands of gifts have been donated to the Chron's Christmas Toy Appeal - by you, our readers.

Earlier this month, we launched our inaugural Christmas Toy Appeal with the aim of bringing a little bit of cheer to families living on the breadline in our town.

And it's fair to say you, our readers, really came through.

Each year thousands of children in Northampton go without a present on Christmas Day- either because their parents cannot afford to buy them, because they are living in unstable homes or because they are in care.

But you have helped lessen that number considerably.

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For the past three weeks, readers have been busy dropping off brand new gifts at All Saints Church Bistro in the town centre for our appeal.

Today, we can report more than 1,500 have been received, from baby grows to soft toys, scooters and perfume.

All of the donated items have now been handed over to former social worker Jeanette Walsh's yearly Christmas appeal.

Jeanette's team of helpers will spend today (December 18) sorting the gifts into categories.

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Throughout this week Northamptonshire County Council social workers will then select suitable gifts for the hundreds of families they are in contact with and deliver them before Christmas Day.

Mum-of-two Jeanette, 60, who grew up in a children's home, said she was thrilled at our readers' efforts.

"The response has been beyond my comprehension," she said.

"Considering we only started this at the beginning of December, I am overwhelmed.

"The variety of presents and quality of them has been fantastic.

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"There are things for teenagers, things for little ones, things for babies."

"We cannot thank you enough."

The Chron appeal, combined with the yearly donations Jeanette has received from other collection points around the town, including one in Market Walk, will help some 2,500 families.

Gifts that are not used at Christmas will become birthday presents for young people throughout the year.

Chron editor David Summers, said: "You, our readers have been incredible.

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"But I wanted to take a moment just to thank the hard-working staff at the All Saints Bistro who have been collecting the presents on our behalf for the past three weeks.

"We are so grateful for your help. Without you this appeal would simply not have been possible."