Conifox: Help children’s Christmas dreams come true

Lothian gift initiative inundated with demand 

Edinburgh’s Conifox Adventure Park is appealing to families to spread the festive joy to those who need a helping hand making children’s Christmas dreams come true this year. 

The family-focused business has once again partnered with Lothian-based charity Kids Love Clothes, which has seen soaring demand for its annual Christmas gift bags. 

Conifox is donating 200 toys through its own Christmas Toy Appeal and is urging its generous visitors to share in the spirit of Christmas by boosting the effort further with the gift of a new toy for children aged between 0 and 12.   

Deborah Gammell, of Conifox, says: “Kids Love Clothes always does an amazing job with their Christmas Gift Bags – last year they provided upwards of 400 bags to local children, and we’re delighted to support them again. This year is a challenge for everyone, and families are particularly affected by the cost-of-living crisis. 

“We know Kids Love Clothes have been inundated with referrals and we want to help them deliver as many gifts as possible. We are confident our Conifox customers will play their part in helping to make this Christmas a special time for all local children.” 

To get involved, visitors simply need to drop their new toys off to the Big Toy Box at Conifox’s Activity Centre. Donations made must be in their original packaging and no bigger than the average board game.  

Kids Love Clothes will package the toys and each child will receive a gift bag containing age-appropriate toys to light up their faces this Christmas.  

Working via referrals from health visitors, schools, nurseries and social workers, Kids Love Clothes provides a whole wardrobe of clothes for children throughout the year. At Christmas time, they utilise this network to understand what local families would benefit from gift bags of toys. The Christmas Toy initiative strives to ensure no child in need misses out during this festive season.  

Fiona Shapcott, Kids Love Clothes founder says: “The reaction of supporters, such as Conifox, has been overwhelming, showing such generosity and kindness. We put a post-up saying we were struggling with a certain age group and within days received an incredible amount of donations  ordered from our Amazon Wishlist.  

“We have a short window to get the Christmas gift bags out to the organisations in time for them to be able to get them to their families, so it is full-on operation, and we cannot express enough thanks to everyone who donates. It truly does make Christmas morning for every family we can help.” 

Please note Conifox are also a drop off point for good quality second-hand children’s clothes. The collection bin for clothes can be found in the forward car park, outside The Fetching Fox. 

Conifox Adventure Park, at Kirkliston on the outskirts of Edinburgh, is currently running its Christmas Experience with a host of festive attractions. It is open until December 24 and will be delighted to accept toy donations until then. 

To find out more and to book tickets, visit the Conifox Adventure Park Facebook page @conifoxadventurepark or www.conifox.co.uk.  

For more information on Kids Love Clothes visit:

https://www.kidsloveclothes.co.uk/about/ 

Conifox Adventure Park and Kids Love Clothes set up gift donation hub

A Scottish business with children at its heart has set up a new initiative to help young partygoers spread birthday joy to less fortunate children across Scotland.  

Conifox Adventure Park & Activity Centre, near Edinburgh, have created a Birthday Club initiative where children celebrating their birthday with a party – and their guests – can donate an extra gift for a child in need. 

The venture follows the success of the festive Toy Appeal collaboration which ran during Conifox Adventure Park & Activity Centre’s Christmas Experience and is the brainchild of Fiona Shapcott, Founder of local charity  Kids Love Clothes. Last year the generosity of Conifox customers, in partnership with Kids Love Clothes, helped to provide 400 gift bags of toys for distribution via the charity’s established network. 

Deborah Gammell from Conifox Adventure Park & Activity Centre says: “The response to our Christmas Toy Appeal was fantastic and while we recognize that some families struggle at Christmas time, we also acknowledge that there are those who struggle with birthdays too.

“This project will help spread a little extra happiness all year round by reaching out to families and offering them the chance to celebrate their child’s birthday.  

“At Conifox, we host several parties every week, both in our outdoor Adventure Park and indoor Activity Centre. We often host up to 12 separate parties per. Each party can be attended by up to 25 children. If just some of those guests were generous enough to donate an extra gift, the potential to help others would be huge. 

“We hope children and their families will agree it is a lovely way to share the pleasure that celebrating a birthday brings.” 

Conifox Adventure Park & Activity Centre, situated at Kirkliston on the outskirts of Edinburgh, caters for youngsters from 0 to 13 and is inviting donations of gifts suitable for that same age group.

Only NEW toys can be donated and placed unwrapped, into the big Toy Box in the Activity Centre. Any donations of wrapping paper and gift bags will also be gratefully received.  

“We are a family-owned company,” says Deborah, “and we have young children ourselves. We believe that the well-being of local children is a shared priority, and we are confident visitors to the Adventure Park & Activity Centre will join us in this initiative.” 

Fiona Shapcott, Founder of local charity; Kids Love Clothes comments, “The Kids Love Clothes team is delighted to partner with Conifox on our Birthday Club initiative and giving toys is a natural extension of our core clothing service.

“As a wholly volunteer-led charity, we rely on the valuable support from businesses and individuals. Donated toys will be delivered in gift bags with the same care as our clothing gift bags, and with the community support, we will be able to reach even more children, giving them a birthday to remember.” 

To find out more about Conifox Adventure Park & Activity Centre visit:

https://www.conifox.co.uk/ 

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