Ballymoney organiser of Tesco toy appeal praises generosity of colleagues in 'best year yet'

Tesco colleagues across Northern Ireland once again swapped their own aisles for the old B&Q Warehouse on Belfast’s Boucher Road to gift toys to families who were in need this Christmas.

Cool FM and Downtown Radio, in partnership with Harry Corry, ran its annual Mission Christmas Cash For Kids campaign. With the support of Tesco staff and other volunteers, they delivered toys to as many children as possible in Northern Ireland this Christmas.

Derek Loughlin, Tesco Ballymoney Store Manager, organises the toy appeal for Tesco Northern Ireland stores and this year marked his sixth in charge.

“Demand was extremely high this year due to families experiencing setbacks from the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and after supporting this amazing project for six years now, I am delighted to say our contribution levels this year have already been our best yet,” said Derek.

“I can’t praise the Tesco Northern Ireland team enough, everyone from distribution, transport, Express stores, Tesco Extras, and the Tesco Supermarkets should be extremely proud of the work they have done this year and every year previously.

“We were very grateful to have the opportunity to provide these donations to children on Christmas Day and we will continue to do this every year for as long as possible.”

Approximately 4,000 toys were donated which would make the total number donated since Tesco began this toy drive five years ago around 20,000. Tesco colleagues in Northern Ireland donated toys in-store by placing donation trollies in staff rooms for several weeks in the lead-up to Christmas.

Tony McElroy, Tesco Community Manager for Northern Ireland said: “At Tesco, we want to help the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland, and we were glad to be able to lend our support to such an important and worthwhile cause such as Cash For Kids.

“We are very proud of our Tesco colleagues and community champions across Northern Ireland who continue to do incredible work for their local communities and their contribution to Mission Christmas is evidence of that.”