2025 is the 35th anniversary of ELBA’s Toy Appeal. See some of the wonderful profiles of our community partners below.
Round Chapel – Old School Rooms is a vibrant church and community centre in Hackney. Our projects support mostly single mothers with children aged 0–5 who are living in temporary accommodation, facing financial and housing challenges.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Joyful, Supportive, Inclusive
Providing Christmas toys brings real joy and relief to families who are struggling, giving children a positive festive experience and helping parents feel supported during a financially difficult time.
Centre 404 is a prominent and successful charity that offers friendly, reliable and person-centred support to people with learning disabilities, autism and their families.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Happiness, Joy, Excitement
Toy Appeal has had an extraordinary impact on the children, young people and families we support. The majority of children we support live in poverty, and many families simply cannot afford to buy Christmas or festive gifts. Thanks to the Toy Appeal, we can ensure that every child in our service receives a toy, so no one is left behind.
Immediate Theatre believes in the transformative power of the arts and theatre to all our lives and the importance of giving people a voice. Our work is particularly developed with and for marginalised young people.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Accommodating, Versatile, Celebratory
Toy Appeal provides marginalised young people and families access to gifts they might otherwise go without. Many families have expressed that rising living costs make it difficult to meet those needs. Through this initiative, we are able to ensure every child has something to celebrate.
Early Years Cocoon C.I.C. is a parent-led community organisation supporting over 850 families in Barking & Dagenham. We provide a range of sessions that are inclusive, culturally diverse and co-created with families, creating a warm community “village” where everyone feels welcome and supported.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Joy, Community, Surprise
Toy Appeal helps relieve pressure, reduce stress, and bring joy and dignity to households struggling with the cost of living. It reinforces trust, builds community connection, and helps families feel valued, seen, and cared for.
The Crib is a youth and community organisation in Hackney that gives young people a safe space to grow, learn and feel supported. They run workshops, outreach programmes and activities that keep young people connected to positive opportunities.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Magic, Uplifting, Essential
Toy Appeal creates joy, builds community spirit and allows our young people to experience a bit of magic that they might not otherwise have. Every year, we use the donated toys to create our Santa’s Grotto, which has become a real highlight for the children and parents we work with. It strengthens trust between our organisation and local families, showing them we’re here to support them not just in crisis, but in moments of celebration too.
Grassroots for Good combines grassroots community football with the voluntary sector to create more social impact.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Positive, Impactful, Hopeful
Toy Appeal has been great for our young people from low income families who need some support over the festive period.
We run creative clubs for adults with learning disabilities and disadvantaged local children. Our aim is to build confidence through creativity, love and support. We work closely with local families to enrich lives.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Life changing, Amazing, Generous
Toy Appeal has a massive effect on the children and families. This may be the only gift a child will get and so it means so much. We also invite parents who are so devastated because they cannot afford nice things for their child to come in, choose an amazing gift, wrap it here and at Christmas they have a great gift to give their child.
Hackney Quest aims to give young people, families and members of the community the practical and emotional support they need to develop and pursue their aspirations and deal positively with life’s challenges.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Needed, Joyful, Dependable
Toy Appeal is an important ingredient of our Christmas youth activities. Thanks to ELBA, we have presents to give out to all of our Hackney Quest young people at the Christmas parties we run for ages 8–16. The majority of our young people are in receipt of free school meals. Our young people look forward to the Hackney Quest Christmas party every year.
Youth charity Barking and Dagenham Youth Dance (BDYD) is more than a dance group, it’s a source of strength and pride for the community. Through weekly classes and enriching activities, BDYD empowers young people aged 5-21 to find their rhythm, develop confidence and express creativity. It has served 10,000 young people and counting.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Uplifting, Meaningful, Caring
Toy Appeal has been a huge support for our children, young people and their families. Being able to give each BDYD member a free toy helps our participants gain a sense of belonging, inclusion and connection.
Hanley Crouch Community Association (HCCA), based in Islington and established in 1972, delivers a wide range of services and activities, including an afterschool club, community nursery, drop-in sessions for children and adults with special needs, a foodbank, and various other essential community services and activities.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Amazing, Exciting, Grateful
With the rising cost of living, we have seen a notable increase in the number of families accessing our foodbank and seeking additional support. Toy Appeal not only eases this financial strain but also creates moments of genuine joy. Children are always incredibly excited to receive their gifts; the smiles on their faces are priceless and bring a sense of magic back into their lives. For parents, the Appeal provides reassurance and dignity, lifting the emotional and financial burden that often accompanies the festive season.
Social Organisation for Unity & Leisure work with young people to relieve poverty, provide support in education, and focus on the social and economic life of our communities.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Better than Santa!
Toy Appeal has a massive impact, as many young people are in poverty, and wouldn’t get the big toys with it. Parents are also relieved as well.
Shpresa Programme - meaning “hope” in Albanian - is a community-led organisation, drawing on lived experience to empower refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and their families to thrive in the UK. We empower people with skills, confidence and a voice, helping them to thrive, learn and lead towards a brighter future for all.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Inclusion, Care, Joy
The toys we receive are specifically for children and young people from the Albanian-speaking community, many of whom are asylum seekers, refugees or disadvantaged migrants living in poverty. These children face multiple barriers and may be at risk of exploitation or trafficking and face significant mental health challenges. These toys are more than gifts; they are symbols of inclusion, care and hope for children navigating complex and challenging circumstances.
We are a not-for-profit social enterprise that runs six free, fully supervised adventure playgrounds for 6-13 years olds, across Islington. Our mission is to ensure every child in the borough has access to high-quality adventurous play, supporting their well-being, creativity and resilience.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Joyful, Dignifying, Essential
Toy Appeal is a simple intervention that genuinely changes the emotional temperature for families during the holidays. It has a huge, very real impact on both our organisation and the children and families we support. It lifts the pressure on parents and creates moments of joy, dignity and excitement at a time of year that can feel difficult.
The London School Alliance (TLSA) is a family-run agency that funds workshops for our partnered schools and other things they might need throughout the year, like sensory paths.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Altruistic, Impactful, Transformative
The level of need from families and children is increasing each year. We fund hampers full of goodies for families every Christmas and being able to accompany these with presents makes an unimaginable impact. Every year the referral from our schools brings me to tears and I am forever grateful to ELBA for providing these gifts.
Nurture Academy CIC is a London-based social enterprise dedicated to teaching the art of hair braiding and natural hairstyling. Through creative workshops and community projects, we empower children, young people, and adults to embrace their identity and cultural pride.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Joy, Help, Community
Toy Appeal provides vital relief to families on low incomes, especially those with multiple children, by easing financial pressures during the festive season. The gifts bring happiness to children and their families, ensuring they feel valued and included. Toy Appeal not only delivers toys, it delivers hope, joy and a sense of belonging to families who need it most.
Project Zero WF cic engages young people in positive activities to promote social inclusion and reduce anti-social/offending behavior. Our aim is to see a year of Zero deaths of a young person due to knife crime or youth violence.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Needed, Impactful, Beautiful
Toy Appeal has provided extremely valuable support for our families struggling to manage financially at this time, providing our young people with some joy over the festive season, lifting spirits, raising aspirations and showing that life is precious.
Humdum UK is a Community Interest Company (CIC) and our mission is ‘Helping Humanity’ by providing support to the most vulnerable communities across the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and neighbouring London boroughs.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Happiness, Joyful, Gratitude
Our service users provide real stories about the challenges they face. Toy Appeal provides joy to their children, bringing a smile to their faces. This makes a huge difference to the lives of the community and they believe that there is HOPE as there are people and organisations that are there who CARE.
Aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Islington, especially those who are vulnerable and isolated. Working with residents, we seek to find solutions to the issues which make life difficult, strengthen communities to do more for themselves and enable people to improve their life chances. By identifying people who may be at risk, we provide early support to prevent the need for later crisis interventions.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Generous, Giving, Community-building
Toy Appeal gives our organisation a massive boost: it is so heartening that businesses and individuals are so generous and care about others in London; and the difference it makes to the children and families themselves, most of whom toys are a luxury and so to be given something at Christmas is truly special.
Shakespeare Walk Adventure Playground (SWAPA) is an open access adventure playground where children are free to be themselves, free to choose how they spend their time and free from charge.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Generous, Community, Uplifting
Toy Appeal gives us a valuable opportunity to bring the community together, strengthening connections and encouraging families to keep returning to our services because they feel supported and valued. At our Christmas party, Father Christmas is able to hand out toys to every family, and we also provide a festive dinner, creating a warm and memorable celebration for everyone.
Teesdale and Hollybush TRA is a Tenants and Residents Association, and we support residents on our estate, providing support whenever needed. Children are one of our priorities, they are often the silent ones, and distribute care packages and toys to our more vulnerable families and individuals.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Incredible, Essential, Worthwhile
A lot of our residents are on low incomes and Christmas has become a luxury that many can’t afford. Toy appeal not only gives a child a present but elevates the pressure on the families.
Shadwell Community Project provides an open access adventure playground in Tower Hamlets.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Magical, Joyful, Giving
With the Cost of Living crisis and many families in Shadwell living below the poverty line, Toy Appeal is a lifeline to spread Christmas joy. It helps to take the strain off this expensive time of the year.
SocietyLinks Tower Hamlets is a community-based charity rooted in the Whitechapel Peabody Estate. Our mission is to empower local residents by providing practical support and opportunities that lead to positive, lasting change. Our work adapts to the evolving needs of the community we serve: youth clubs, sports, accredited training, homework support, targeted employment support, stay-and-play sessions for families with babies; food pack distribution, and weekly advice and social connection sessions for older people.
How we describe Toy Appeal
Joyful, Special, Thoughtful
The local families all look forward to our Christmas events as it is a chance for families to come together, enjoy the festivities and it makes everyone feel involved in the community. The gifts are much appreciated, many families we work with are going through difficult circumstances and a special treat is sometimes what they need to cheer them up.
