A church in Salford is appealing for toy donations to give to children who might otherwise go without this Christmas after discovering the ‘shocking’ conditions in which some families live in the area.
Victory Outreach Manchester, which celebrated its 15th year last week, will stage the toy giveaway for the children of Ordsall this Sunday.
The idea came from Head Pastor Paul Lloyd, who found families living in extremely poor conditions in Salford.
He said: “There is a large number of people that are struggling to make ends meet in Salford.
“We have worked with students and families in schools before, and what we found out really shocked us.
“We found out there was kids that didn’t have beds, bedding, and we had one child we found that was sleeping on a towel on the floor.”
Victory Outreach is asking for the donations to be made to the church in Salford by Sunday 16 December.
Gifts could be items such as games, toys, sports equipment, clothes such as scarves, hats, gloves, hair accessories or selection boxes.
Volunteers will then take to the streets of Ordsall this Sunday to hand out what was donated to the local community.
Victory Outreach do not discriminate and offer aid to everyone who needs it in the local community.
Paul added “We’re a church that’s been here for 15 years, we’re unique in that we do a lot of work with people that come from drug addiction and alcoholism, gang violence to broken homes, and they make up probably 20% of our church.”
People who attend the church spoke about what the church has done for them over the last 15 years.
The church offers refuge for people struggling with substance abuse and gang violence by having ‘Victory Homes’ where people can stay.
Over the past month they had a Christmas dinner for everyone from the homes, where they were able to invite their families and enjoy a Christmas dinner on them.
The toy collection isn’t the only festive thing going on at Victory Outreach this month.
The Church is putting together a Christmas carol service that will be taking place on Sunday 23rd of December, and also a New Years concert that will take place Monday 31st of December, all of which is open to the public.
The church hope to see many new faces.
Pastor Paul says: “Everyone is friendly, everyone is welcoming, let the kids come have fun and get involved.”
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