Hundreds of disabled children are waiting to receive specialist toys from Newlife’s Play Therapy Pod service this Christmas and beyond. Your support today could change this.

Our specialist sensory toy service is a free twelve-week loan of toys specially chosen to suit the needs of different age and ability children. Many of the children that we support are life-limited or terminally ill, receiving care away from home or are unable to attend school due to serious illness or risk of infection. Because of their circumstances and their additional need for specialist toys, some of these children are missing out on the opportunity to play and learn new skills and interact with the world around them.

Although we expected that demand for the specialist toy loans would rise because of the cost-of-living crisis, we didn’t anticipate that the increase in the number of applications would be as high as it is.

We want to continue to help as many families that turn to us as we possibly can, but we can’t do it without your support. Many families with disabled and terminally ill children are already having to cut back on essentials and simply can’t afford specialist toys to help their child develop and thrive.

To meet the growing number of applications and make a vital difference to disabled children, we must increase the number of pods we currently have available, replace some of the well-loved toys that have become damaged, and cover the service’s running costs.

Your gift today will help children like two-year-old Amelia who is partially sighted, can’t sit up on her own, walk or crawl. Standard toys are difficult for her to play with, but Newlife’s sensory toys have really helped, especially with hand and eye coordination and head control. Her parents have been thrilled to see her interact, play, and learn due to the different toys in the pods they have received so far.