The four Gulliver’s parks around the country stage a ‘Toy Bank Weekend’ each year, with entry discounted for families that bring a new, unused toy to donate.
This year’s event saw an incredible 2,625 toys collected across the four sites.
Phil Bracegirdle, resort manager at Gulliver’s Valley in the Rother Valley, said: “The children who receive these toys have been through some challenging circumstances and KidsOut is a charity we love to support. It was great to see the enthusiasm of our young visitors to donate toys during the weekend and our thanks go to all the families who helped us reach such a fantastic total.”
Each year in England alone, more than 28,000 children along with a parent, flee domestic abuse to seek sanctuary in refuges or safe accommodation. These children will have witnessed or experienced emotional, violent, or sexual abuse and will typically arrive in refuge with nothing.
KidsOut is a national charity that supports thousands of these children by providing them with brand-new toys on arrival in refuge and again at Christmas. It also takes them on fun days out. The toys collected over the weekend will be included in the boxes of new toys that children receive when arriving in refuge so they have something to call their own.
Louise Sherwood, community engagement manager, at KidsOut said: “A massive thank you to everyone at Gulliver’s and their visitors across the four theme parks. The weekend was a tremendous success and the staff that helped on all sites were amazing. The donated toys will make such a difference to the children we support in Refuge.”
To find out more about the work of KidsOut, visit: https://www.kidsout.org.uk/
Toy Bank Weekend wasn’t the only big success at Gulliver’s Valley recently – Food Bank Weekend in May proved to be popular with visitors, with lots of much-needed supplies donated for New Hope Food Bank in Killamarsh, which provides emergency food to individuals and families who are in short-term crisis across the Rother Valley area.
Phil said: “So many toys and so much food donated over the two weekends, these events show what a fantastic community spirit there is among our visitors.”
Gulliver’s Valley is gearing up for a busy summer, with lots of exciting rides, attractions, shows and activities on offer to entertain families, including the Apache Falls ride, Ghostly Galleon pirate ship, a Mini Zoo, Lost Jurassic World area, with amazing animatronic dinosaurs, and Gulliver’s Gears, which features Turbo Tower and Crazy Planes, as well as the Grand Prix Racers rollercoaster and a display of classic cars.
The theme park has a variety of cool family accommodation options for those looking to stay overnight, including Unicorn and Princess Suites, Pirate Lodges, Captain’s Dens, Mermaid Dens, Lost World Lodges and the mighty Megalodon Lodge.
Gulliver's Valley website
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