South Tyneside First ever free ‘Christmas Toy Collective’ 

South Tyneside Green Party

28th November 2022

Cost of Living worries escalate in run up to Christmas – with pressure to spend leaving some with very difficult choices

Green Party councillor, Sarah McKeown, has taken action to support local families at this tough time by organising a ‘no judgement, no money needed’ Toy Collective

Parents and carers were welcome to come along and ‘take what they can use’ 

Green Party councillors across South Tyneside are working hard to support local residents with issues relating to the cost-of-living crisis, from rising energy and food bills to rent and mortgage issues. As well as the day-to-day support, Green Party councillor for Beacon and Bents ward, Sarah McKeown, brought a motion to September’s full council meeting, calling on the council to provide ‘Warm Spaces’ for local people struggling to heat their homes this winter. The Labour-run council adopted this Green proposal and now there are ‘Warm Spaces’ across the borough, helping to keep fuel costs down, combatting loneliness and providing support to those who need it.

Green Party councillor for Beacon and Bents ward, Sarah McKeown said, “We know that so many people are really struggling with money at the moment. As well as the Warm Spaces initiative, I wanted to organise something that would offer practical help to those who have children in their lives and are worrying about the cost of buying toys this Christmas.

It’s also an opportunity for people to pass on any good quality toys that their children may have outgrown and know that they’ll be put to good use, rather than thrown away to landfill. I’ve been overwhelmed with the amount of donations and interest we’ve had from the local community already.”

The first ‘Toy Collective’ in Beacon and Bents ward was held at Ocean Road Community Association on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November from 10am til 1pm.

It was run on a ‘no money needed’ basis – parents and carers were simply invited to drop in and take a couple of items per child for free.