Northampton mum relaunches ‘Santa’s helpers’ online group where toys can be donated as Christmas gifts

A Northampton mum-of-two has relaunched her online group where toys can be donated as Christmas gifts for families who are struggling.

Emma Miller, from Boughton, launched a Facebook group last year called ‘Santa’s Little Helpers Northamptonshire’ where donors can post toys they are happy to donate to a child, so that parents can then message the poster about collecting the present.

The group reached 3,100 members last year and many families contacted Emma to ask if she would consider running the group again this Christmas.

As the demand was clearly there for a second year of the group, Emma agreed and is now on the lookout for more people to join and contribute.

The 35-year-old said: “It has just blown up.

“We had so many comments last year from families about how they had been helped.

“Demand for it was so high last year and I think it is again this year, but it was a lot for me as the admin so I’ve made stricter rules this year.

“Hopefully it will be successful this year as well and then I’ll keep it going.”

Since Emma relaunched the page last week, she has already seen 100 more members join.

This year, she is also hoping the reach will be bigger and better as she has partnered with NN4 traders and is working with a Nisa shop that is donating £100, which will be used to buy presents.

Emma added: “People who received presents last year have been in touch to say how much it helped them and that they now want to help this year. This gave me the motivation to do it again.

“I don’t want any child to go without at Christmas, but this is about the parents too.

“It can be a really subtle thing just between the person who is offering and the parent.

“We hope to attract more people this year so we can help even more families.”

Join the group on Facebook here to offer donations or to message donors about presents.