00:00As the cost of living crisis continues to put pressure on families across our region,
00:05one local initiative is stepping up to bring a little joy this Christmas.
00:09Sporting Wall's End has launched a community toy campaign helping families
00:13who are struggling with the daily choice between heating and eating.
00:17We're here to take a closer look at how local organisations are coming together
00:21to spread laughter, warmth and hope across the area.
00:25Yeah, so we're running a Christmas toy and food appeal.
00:30We've done that for the last couple of years, which have been really successful.
00:33So the idea of the appeal is for people to drop off donations, both new and old toys,
00:41which we can donate to local families in the NE28 in the North Tyneside area
00:46so we can support them to have the best Christmas here possibly can have.
00:50So Sporting Wall's End was actually set up on the back of Wall's End Boys Club
00:54and the success Wall's End Boys Club had.
00:57Wall's End Boys Club obviously was set up in 1904, so over 120 years ago.
01:01Sporting Wall's End is really to focus on the community element,
01:04working with people in the Wall's End, the North Tyneside area.
01:07Our tagline is to inspire our community to become happier and healthier.
01:12We run programmes from 8 o'clock in the morning through to 10 o'clock at night,
01:15as well as school programmes as well.
01:18We run an alternative provision programme where we've got young people in the building
01:22who don't engage in mainstream school.
01:24We run disability sports, we run sports for over 50s,
01:28and then also sports for those who suffer with diseases such as Parkinson's and dementia as well.
01:34So again, it's all just about trying to make a positive difference through the power of sport.
01:38A lot of families in the NE28 area are struggling,
01:42so especially we run holiday activity and food programmes,
01:45which supports those who are on free school meals,
01:47which obviously they don't get during the holiday periods.
01:51So there's a lot of families who have the decision whether to feed their children,
01:54whether to buy them Christmas presents,
01:56whether to put the heating on over the winter period.
01:58So any support we can give them is really, really important.
02:02And by running the appeal, we can give food to some of the families who need it,
02:06but also toys and presents to young children as well.
02:09Yeah, definitely.
02:10I mean, we work with a range of different people,
02:12people who don't just come here to play football,
02:13people who come here, you know, struggling financially,
02:17struggling with their mental health, struggling with their well-being.
02:19So the idea of the programmes we run, including this one,
02:23is to make a real difference.
02:24So we get a lot of families come back after the Christmas
02:27and say what a good Christmas we've had
02:29and what a difference we've made over the festive period.
02:32So we work with seven different primary schools in the Walshend area.
02:36Obviously, they've got a real strong understanding of the families,
02:39so we'll actually distribute them to the different schools
02:41who will then know the families who need it most.
02:44We'll also take a delivery down to walking with
02:46and they can distribute them to their families
02:49who are going to benefit the most.
02:50By coming together, we've got a stronger reach,
02:52a sort of broader community that we can work with.
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