AN online toy retailer from the district has teamed up with a charity to give away more than £15,000 worth of toys to seriously ill children this Christmas.

PoundToy, based at River Technology Park in Keighley, has joined forces with Rays of Sunshine, to provide more than 5,000 toys to 333 seriously ill children.

They will be given 'Christmas in a Box', which feature toys, confectionery, craft items, slime, science kits worth nearly £50 each.

Rays of Sunshine helps brighten the lives of seriously ill children across the UK, aged three to 18, by granting wishes and providing ongoing support in hospitals. 

 

Ginnie Maxfield-White, from Rays of Sunshine said: “Over Christmas 2020 Rays of Sunshine are delivering festive fun to 333 seriously ill children across the UK both at home and in hospital.

“This is in place of our usual Christmas parties which sadly have not been possible this year due to the impact of Covid-19.

"We are holding various online, interactive activities over 11 days culminating in a Virtual Christmas Party on the 12th Day.

“PoundToy are very kindly putting together and delivering 'Christmas in a Box' to all the families attending the Virtual Christmas Party – this means they get a bit of festive magic delivered to them which they can enjoy from home while engaging in our virtual party.

“Many of our children have spent the majority of the year shielding and will not be able to celebrate Christmas in the same way as usual so thanks to PoundToy we will be able to bring Christmas to them.”

Feedback from some of the families who have received their 'Christmas in a Box':

One said: “We wanted to say thank you for (the) Christmas box. She has had a tough six months and you should have seen the smile on her face when she opened it”

“Thank you so much for the gift box, he was super excited when it arrived.

"He got some lovely fun items, I think his favourite is a squishy stress ball. Thank you all for being so kind to the children, it makes Christmas just that bit more special.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: From left, Rob Owlett and Elliot Lumb have enjoyed a fruitful year for their PoundToy business in KeighleyFrom left, Rob Owlett and Elliot Lumb have enjoyed a fruitful year for their PoundToy business in Keighley

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s been a hard year for many vulnerable families and people, which is why PoundToy wanted to help bring smiles to people's faces this Christmas.

PoundToy reported a 157 per cent year-on-year growth last month after a successful 2020.

Founded in 2016, PoundToy is a family-operated business that has gone from strength to strength, moving into a larger distribution warehouse earlier this year and recruiting a further 50 staff to keep up with demand, taking its staff numbers to 76. This number includes seasonal workers to meet the demand for its products in the lead-up to Christmas.

The company, set up by Rob Owlett, from Oakworth, and Elliot Lumb, who lives near Cullingworth, aims to sell a range of children’s toys at much lower prices than the larger, more established outlets.

PoundToy is the UK’s fastest growing online toy retailer and stocks high quality, branded character toys and games from huge names including Marvel, Lego, Star Wars and Peppa Pig.

Orders have been received from more than 160 countries across the world including Australia, USA and China.

Meanwhile, PoundToy has also followed the huge High Street names by premiering its first national TV advert.

The 30-second commercial was broadcast on ITV last month and uses footage of real customers opening their PoundToy deliveries.