JCB’s third annual Christmas Toy Appeal has delivered a record haul of gifts for distribution to children in Staffordshire and Wrexham.
Kind-hearted employees have donated more than 1,700 presents across all of JCB’s UK plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Wrexham – making it the biggest ever total since the first JCB Christmas Toy Appeal in 2022. The Hubb Foundation now has the mammoth task of wrapping the bulk of the gifts before the charity distributes them to families in Stoke-on-Trent with the help of the NSPCC. In Wrexham, toys donated by employees at JCB Transmissions will be handed to the Salvation Army for local distribution.
Today Lady Bamford thanked everyone for their contribution to the appeal. She said: “I’d like to say a very big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to donate a gift to the JCB Christmas Toy Appeal. It really will make such a huge difference to every single child who has a present to open this Christmas.”
As the final gifts were delivered to the World HQ yesterday, Lord Bamford was joined by Rupert Chilman, aged five and his sister Alice, two, to officially hand over the presents to the Hubb Foundation and the NSPCC.
NSPCC Strategic Services Manager Rachael Holdcroft said: “The reality for many children and families is that Christmas isn’t actually a magical time. The donation of these gifts by the JCB workforce brings a little bit of light into what is otherwise quite a dark time for them and it will make the world of difference.”
Adam Yates, Chief Operating Officer at the Stoke-on-Trent based Hubb Foundation said: “The sheer volume of gifts donated to the JCB Christmas Toy Appeal is an amazing achievement by JCB employees. I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has donated a gift this year.”
The GMB union in Staffordshire donated £1,000 to enable the purchase of toys for the Appeal and in Wrexham the GMB donated a further £650 so gifts could be bought.