The Chiltern Toy Bank is helping parents struggling with rising costs in Chesham, Amersham and Prestwood areas during the festive season so that “every child at Christmas can have some presents and a happy festive season.”

While the charity has collected unwanted toys and gifted them to families and children in need for the past nine years, the Covid pandemic saw the number of parents registering for the help spike, and that trend is expected to grow even further this year, the charity warned.

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The chairperson of Chiltern Toy Bank Samantha Horsman said: “The fuel crisis and the general cost of living crisis has put many families in a much harder position than they've ever found themselves before and made Christmas an incredibly stressful prospect.

“The cost of living has also impacted our charity where we are finding our costs of buying in essentials and paying for petrol for volunteers is becoming so much more expensive.”

On the first day of registration alone, a record 94 families signed up - a figure the charity has “never seen before,” Ms Horsman said. 

The army of volunteers - called Toy Bank Elves – diligently check, clean and package hundreds of playsets, toy cars, games, craft sets, action figures, Lego sets, Duplo toys, dolls and Barbies and many more.

Ms Horsman added: “We also buy wrapping paper, Sellotape, toiletries and confectionary for stocking fillers, so we can try and take as much stress away from the parents or guardians as possible, at what can be an incredibly difficult time for families who are struggling.”

Registration for support is open until November 25, and it can be found by clicking here.

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