Toy Donations bring Joy to Local Children

Farnborough Lions have always enjoyed close links with Frimley Park Hospital so when we were approached by a film company working locally with the kindly offer of a large donation of toys we gladly accepted. That resulted in the picture (right) when members of Farnborough Lions Club delivered large sacks of soft toys for the patients at the Children's Ward. These alongside numerous other toys and games were kindly donated by Hartswood Films who had been using them on the film set of an HETV Production filmed at the new film studios on the edge of Farnborough Airport.  

Frimley Park Hospital Children's Ward will be sharing these soft toys with the Maternity Ward and Pediatric Accident & Emergency to bring as much happiness as possible to the young patients during their hospital stay.

Hartswood Films made this donation within the wider context of up-cycling and re-purposing with a strong vision in sustainable production and positive community links within the region. This has ensured that wherever possible, items that are no longer required are donated rather than disposed of.

These toys were among many other donations made by the production, including food to food banks, stationery to local schools, colourful decorations to a nursery, and unused PPE to a nearby college. 

Richard Keeley - Secretary of Farnborough Lions Club said "We are so grateful to Hartswood Films for this wonderful donation. It will enable us to  distribute a large number of toys between The Lions Community Store, Frimley Park Hospital and the Evelina Children's Hospital in London. The Lions Community Store project is run by the Lions Clubs in North East Hampshire to recycle furniture, household goods, white goods, bedding and clothing for onward donation to less fortunate families in this area. 

Every Christmas the Community Store provide food parcels to those in danger of going hungry over the festive period. Included in these food parcels are gifts for the children who would otherwise not enjoy Christmas in the same way as their school friends. Last year the Lions Community Store provided 400 food parcels in this area, 113 of which were in Farnborough. Each family parcel contained gifts for the children".

Brendan Duffy - Sustainability PA for Sustainable Film, a Sustainability Consultancy for Film & TV who advise Hartswood Films added "We were really pleased the Lions are able to make such good use of the toys from our film set. We aim to be as sustainable as possible and the Lions network of good causes is an ideal way of ensuring the toys go to the most worthy within the local community."