With £500,000 raised for charities so far via Pennies, we can already see that donating just a few pence at a time can quickly add up to significant funds. Thanks to your donations, some of the work carried out by the charities benefitting also demonstrates how a little can go a long way.
Like donating spare change, it doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to give a child a toy. But the Toy Box scheme from KidsOut, one of Travelodge’s recipient charities, can have a big impact on children who have to leave home because it wasn’t a secure or safe place to be.
Around 20,000 children a year escape abusive homes, often with their mothers, and seek safety in women’s refuges. After about 6-12 months most get to move into a new home but many children can find it tough moving into a new community with few things to call their own – this is where the KidsOut Toy Box scheme comes in.
At this tough time, they give these children a box filled with games, books and soft toys suited to age and gender. The simple addition of some toys to play with helps give them a sense of normality and the opportunity to make new friends as they can invite other children around to play.
Nearly £9,000 has been raised for KidsOut so far via Pennies, helping them to send out thousands of these boxes each year with the support of FedEx and 247 refuges across the UK. Something to remember next time you have the option to round up your booking to the nearest pound on the Travelodge website!