At 7am this morning (14th December 2021) before Smyths Toy Superstore opened to the general public the team behind The Great Big Salisbury Christmas Toy Appeal snuck into the store for a spot of Christmas shopping.

The trolly dash saw Louise and Liam McConnell from ReQuire Consultancy and a couple of other little helpers including Eva-Mai Howard, Debbie Edwards, Sam Ainslie, and Love Salisbury’s Head of News Beth Doherty, dash around the store filling trollies with toys for underprivileged and vulnerable children around the city.

The team used the funds raised by the general public and The Great Big Salisbury Christmas Toy Appeal Advent calendar which saw local businesses sponsor an Advent door.

In total, the campaign raised £4,582 to be spent on toys that will be added to the presents that have already been donated by the public and delivered to 1st Access Self Storage, who kindly donated 2 units to store all the toys in their very own Santa’s Grotto.

Around 14 trollies were filled with toys for boys and girls before being loaded onto Oz (from Ozweld International) the elf’s van.

Speaking to the organiser of the appeal, Louise McConnell said, “The trolly dash was fantastic! Thank you to everyone who donated which meant that we were able to spend a huge amount of money today. We are heading off with a van full of toys now to get ready to put them in stockings. It’s been amazing.”

Love Salisbury’s Head of News, Beth Doherty added, “It’s an absolute pleasure to be working in partnership with Louise and the Great Big Salisbury Christmas Toy Appeal again this year.

“We had so much fun running around Smyths and being elves for the day. It was even better knowing that all these toys will bring a smile to a child who otherwise might have gone without a gift this Christmas.

“Thank you to everyone who has donated and the businesses who have supported the campaign so far, keep an eye on our Advent Calendar to see who is behind the upcoming doors!”

The toys will now be organised into categories before Santa delivers them to St. Paul’s Church to be collected by families in need on Friday (17th December 2021).

Liam McConnell added, “On Friday the toys will be collected by parents who have been recommended to us as needing a gift to give to their children this Christmas. We want to give them to the parents so they can feel like they’re giving something to their children on Christmas Day and can bring them that joy. We don’t want the kids to see us as the heroes, it’s all about the parents.”