Thank-you letters show how YOUR donations make Christmas special for hundreds of Northamptonshire families

Back the Northampton Chronicle & Echo's toy appeal and make December 25 something special for the county's disadvantaged families
Readers donated thousands of pounds worth of presents last year for the county's most disadvantaged families.Readers donated thousands of pounds worth of presents last year for the county's most disadvantaged families.
Readers donated thousands of pounds worth of presents last year for the county's most disadvantaged families.

Northamptonshire's residents truly make a difference through our annual toy appeal - and we've got the letters to prove it.

Last year, the county came through like never before when we asked you our readers to donate gifts for some of the most disadvantaged families, young people and children in Northamptonshire.

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Residents donated a record-breaking 4,500 presents to help make December 25 special for families on the breadline.

This year, we can't ask people to drop off presents for safety reasons - but that's why instead, the Chronicle & Echo and the Evening Telegraph have partnered with Wellingborough-based The Faraway Children's Charity to launch a JustGiving page that will make sure hundreds of children have something under the tree this year.Donate to the Faraway Children's Charity Christmas Toy Appeal here.

And if you need proof of what a difference it makes, here are just a handful of the scores of thank-you letters sent by families last year.

One story came from a social worker who wrote to say: "One of my young girls had a really tough time just before Christmas for a variety of reasons and was feeling very low and vulnerable.

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"She cried when she opened her box. She told me 'it’s happy crying, it’s so nice. It’s funny that strangers want me to have a nice Christmas, I’ve not got anyone else'."

One young boy was able to give his mum and dad presents during their contact over Christmas - gifts he can't normally afford on his pocket money. His carer wrote to say: "It might seem small but it was a massive feelgood factor in his life."

Another story was of a woman who was homeless over the past year but has now come off the streets. She is living in supported accommodation and this year for the very first time she received a number of gifts that came from the Christmas appeal.

Her social worker wrote: "The gift's raised her self-esteem massively. Just to know that people do care has given her the motivation to try and look for a brighter future."

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The annual toy appeal is spearheaded by former social worker Jeanette Walsh - better known as 'Mother Christmas' - who has run the annual appeals across the county for 17 years after she herself received a donated gift while growing up in care.

She told the Chron: "A lot of people are saying to me it's going to be difficult to get their presents this year and do what they normally do.

"The families who we help every year have struggled even more and there will be even more families in need this year as well.

"If the disadvantaged parents in Northamptonshire have to choose between presents and food, they're going to choose food. Which is why this appeal is is more important than ever.

"As far as I'm concerned, the appeal this year is more important than ever before."