Children will go without toys this Christmas – here's how you can help

YOUR friends are getting really excited about Christmas, talking about it all the time, but you don’t want to ask for any presents, because you know just how hard your parents are finding things at the minute.

- RUTH MOSALSKI

Ruth Mosalski with the Rhondda Christmas toy appeal drop-off last year

You wake up on Christmas morning, and you see that instead of the pictures you've seen in books or films of presents piled under the tree, there is no tree and no presents.

Your dinner isn’t a turkey with all the trimmings, but some beans from the cupboard with toast.

During term time, before you go to school you see your parents going out to work, and when you're home they’re still out. You know they're working hard, but you hear the adults talk about money and asking how they'll afford this Christmas.

Not one of these is a one-off, they are all the reality of family life for thousands of people in Wales. At the heart of each of those stories are children who won't get the Christmas Day every child deserves.

This is the third year we’re running our toy appeal to ensure gifts go to children who otherwise wouldn't receive any, and to ease the stress of parents and caregivers for whom this isn’t a magical time but one full of stress and worry.

In our first year, around 500 children were helped. Last year, you helped by sending 1,500 items.

We gave every item to Canolfan Pentre, a charity in the Rhondda which distributed them to children and their families all across the Valleys.

They distributed toys but also food items and toiletries to people who really needed your help.

We cannot explain how much of a difference your generosity made, but this year we need your help again.

Our Amazon wishlist for the 2025 appeal is live and there are plenty more people to help.

None of the problems have gone away. Electricity bills are still rocketing, childcare is prohibitively high, the cost of a weekly shop seems to go up every week.