Christmas is fast approaching and Radio Lollipop Newcastle are looking for schools, businesses and shops to help us out with our post-Christmas toy drive for children at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Will you be doing a Christmas clear out to make room for the new toys and gifts you will be getting at Christmas? Don’t just throw away your older toys as there is a good chance that we can use them to make a sick child smile.

If your wasted toys are in good, clean condition, we can arrange to have them delivered directly to sick kids on the wards of Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary over the course of the year.

Every small gift we can provide for these kids turns a frown upside down, so have a look through your cupboards and see what you’ve got…

Examples of items that are especially useful to us include:

Smaller items like

Keyrings
Hair slides and bobbles
Stationery of any kind
Model cars and trains

And any other small gift items you may have in the back of your drawer – these are the most useful things for us!

We can also make good use of

Board games.
Books.
Videos
DVD’s
Music CD’s.
Console (especially original playstation) games
Nightlights
Small jewellery items

Anything you can think of really as long as it’s in good working order!

Clean clothing which is in good condition is also very useful for families whose children are rushed into hospital very quickly without any time to prepare.

Don’t forget that children in hospital can be any age from 0-18 so items for teenagers and young adults are also very welcome.

If you think you may be able to help to arrange a toy drive at your school or place of work, or you have a small donation of items that you would like to arrange to deliver to us or have collected, please get in touch via the contact Newcastle page.

We can’t wait to hear from you. Your donations will be used all year round to provide gifts for children who need a smile.

PLEASE NOTE: The only thing we can’t accept are cuddly toys as they are difficult to clean fully and carry more risk of cross infection if they are passed from child to child.

This week saw the major launch of the Chemo Duck project at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Tennessee, USA.

How does this affect Radio Lollipop? Answer: Radio Lollipop Newcastle have been sent 12 of these very special educational toys for children with cancer at Newcastle RVI.

Lu Sipos, founder of the project said: “In all we distributed 30 ducks to children from the Vanderbilt Cancer Clinic and the ward. The ducks were all given to very loving homes and it was gratifying to see the children’s faces light up as they were each handed a duck. Every child was also given a book to explain how best to use their duck and a certificate stating that they are now the doctor and therefore responsible for the ducks treatment. I find it hard to eloquently express my feelings, as it was the culmination of a two year dream.

To finally be able to reach out and help families in a tangible way creates some overwhelming emotions. The launch party was an amazing triumph and a true credit to everyone who has blessed this project with their own special talents and encouraged me along the path I have chosen. We are delighted that our ducks are flying as far as the UK!”

Radio Lollipop Newcastle is very proud to be associated with the Chemo Duck project and hope that it continues to reach out to kids with cancer in the future.