For many children, Christmas morning means the excitement of waking up early, racing downstairs and discovering presents waiting beneath the tree.

But for families experiencing financial hardship, making Christmas feel magical can be an enormous challenge.

The Rotherham Christmas Toy Appeal has been helping to change that for local families for 35 years.

Organised by volunteers at Rotherham Families First, with the help of Parkgate Shopping, South Yorkshire Radio and Rotherham United Community Trust, it is Rotherham’s longest established toy appeal that supports thousands of local children and young people every year.

The appeal brings together the public, schools, businesses and community groups to help provide gifts for children who might otherwise have little or nothing to open on Christmas morning.

To donate, simply choose the age of the child you want to buy for – they have giving trees at Parkgate or other venues with different age ranges on. Then once you’ve bought your gift up the value of £30, drop it off unwrapped at any of the stores at Parkgate.

There are also other collection points across the borough, from libraries and community health centres to local businesses and schools, so look out for the Rotherham Toy Appeal signage when you’re out and about.

From first Christmases to those trickier teenage years, every child deserves something special to unwrap and the appeal supports children from birth up to 18. They particularly welcome gifts for babies and teenagers, two age groups that can sometimes be overlooked when it comes to festive donations.

The Rotherham Toy Appeal receives requests from professionals working closely with families so they can identify those most in need. Last year, there were 2,051 children and young people referred, so the elves were very busy in the grotto!

Each child tells ‘Santa’ what they would like for Christmas and the Rotherham Families First elves then choose something from the donations based on each child’s wish list.

None of the children know their gifts have come from the appeal; the charity asks for items to be unwrapped so that families can wrap them for their children, helping retain their dignity and self-worth.

So this festive season, consider picking up an extra gift while you’re out Christmas shopping. Or find out how your school, business, or organisation can get involved on their website www.rotherhamfamiliesfirst.org.uk or follow them on Facebook