Estate agents' festive toy appeal supports local families

The business, which has been based in the Antrim and Newtownabbey borough for three decades, collected over £2,000 worth of new toys from generous companies and residents to help families who are struggling this year.

Speaking to the Newtownabbey Times, Country Estates director Stephen Johnson said: “I saw a post on social media towards the end of November from a GP who was appealing for gifts for a family in her area who had four young kids and had no prospect of buying gifts for them.

"As a father of five, I thought we should try to do something to help, so after searching online for Christmas toy appeals, I contacted the Salvation Army who informed me they were collecting toys for vulnerable families. As a company, we decided to get involved.

“We posted on our Facebook and Instagram pages and put up huge banners in our office windows promoting the appeal. We then contacted our clients via email asking for their support. We kicked the appeal off with £250 of toys and by the end of the first day, well respected local businesses and builders had purchased and donated over £1,500 worth of new toys.

"We were overwhelmed with the generosity of the public across our offices in Ballyclare, Antrim and Glengormley, with families donating in some cases literally bags of toys and gifts for all age ranges. It means a lot to us to have received so many donations, especially during these difficult times for all families.”

This year’s festive effort is not the first time the firm has supported worthy causes, with numerous charities being backed over the last 30 years.

Stephen explained: "As a business that has been serving the community in east Antrim since 1992, we have carried out a number of charity fundraising efforts, including running marathons in New York, Chicago, Berlin, Paris to name a few. We have also abseiled down the Europa Hotel, trekked the Inca Trail in Peru and competed in dragon boat races on the River Lagan.

“This year’s appeal made a huge impact on everyone within the company. Normally, when fundraising it can be hard to visualise how it can help the charities involved. But this time, our offices were literally full of toys—so you could see the end product. Knowing that some families might just have a better Christmas due to our efforts made everyone involved feel great.

“Major Ian McBride of The Salvation Army collected the toys today (Monday, December 12) in a convoy of three vehicles. Although, following the collection we have since received more gifts this afternoon! We were asked to run our campaign from Thursday, December 1 to Saturday, December 10 to give sufficient time for the toys to be allocated.”

For more information, check out the Country Estates NI Facebook page.