Thousands of gifts, donated by generous St David’s Cardiff shoppers, were provided to Children’s charities across the city this week as part of the centre’s annual Toy Appeal.

Running until 23 December, the Toy Appeal is supporting more than 20 incredible charities across South Wales, and almost 3,500 gifts have already been donated in the first week alone. Every toy donated helps to spread festive cheer to children and families across South Wales.

The charities that benefitted from the first round of Toy Appeal donations included Homestart Cymru, Noah’s Ark and Children’s Leukaemia Society, Valley’s Kids and Kidney Wales.

Another of the charities that received the donations this week included Cardiff based Follow Your Dreams. The charity supports children with learning disabilities, some with life-limiting medical or severe developmental conditions. Follow Your Dreams inspire the ambitions of children and young people by delivering enjoyable methods of learning and play.

Diane Blackmore, Chief Executive from Follow Your Dreams, commented:“We are delighted to be part of this amazing appeal once again this year. The generosity and kindness of everyone who has donated is overwhelming! The donations really make Christmas for many of our residents, who would otherwise struggle to provide such wonderful gifts for their little ones. We really are truly thankful to everyone involved”.

James Waugh, General Manager for St David’s, added: “We’re thrilled to be supporting so many fantastic charities to help bring some Christmas magic to the children and families they support for another year running.”

“We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our shoppers last year, so this year we not only wanted to achieve the ambitious goal of 10,000 toys in 23 days, but also increase the number of local charities we support! We really hope that everyone comes out in force to help us make a positive difference to children across South Wales this year.”

Shoppers who want to take part can head to the Donation Station at St David’s, located near the Clogau store on the lower level, where a team of festive helpers are taking the donations. Donations can also be dropped off at the John Lewis toy department, the big Christmas Tree near Boots and at the customer Information Point near Debenhams.

For more information on the Toy Appeal, visitstdavidscardiff.com/ToyAppeal or join in the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #SDToyAppeal