BARNSLEY’S real-life Father Christmas says he’s been blown away by the support of local residents and expects this year’s toy appeal to be his biggest yet.
The Barnsley Christmas Toy Appeal was launched in 2020 by town centre barber Tony Batty as a way to give children across the town something to smile about during the pandemic.
It’s now in its fourth year, and Tony expects that Barnsley has smashed last year’s 6,000 toy total.
He told the Chronicle: “It’s been absolutely mindblowing.
“This will definitely be the biggest one we’ve done.
“We’ve got a warehouse in Dodworth that’s full, my shop’s full, the boot of my car is full and we’ve got drop-off points all full as well.
“It’s absolutely smashed last year’s total - there’s thousands of donations.”
Tony has given a special mention to Holly Unwin-Hodgson, Adele Richardson, Lisa Mann, Rebecca Rose, Kerry-Ann Clarke and Coun Ian Shirt - all of whom have been supporting the scheme this year.
“If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” he said.
“It’s been unbelievable. We’ve had children using their spending money on presents and pensioners who are struggling to pay their heating bills come in with donations.”
