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A couple from Argoed have organised a drive to hand out free toys to struggling families this Christmas. 

Gemma Baker and Layton Jones, who run Salvaged Creations Wales, I-Make, CIC, organised the collection at Blackwood’s Asda store.

The initiative has been running for the last four weeks with the help of the supermarket’s community champion, Lorna. 

The idea came about after Layton saw a similar initiative in his local Sainsbury’s. 

Speaking about the decision, Gemma told Caerphilly Observer: “It was Layton’s idea and I’m just so glad.”

She continued: “It’s one of those things that has snowballed really.”

The trolley already has over 50 toys donated by kind shoppers, from Play-Doh to a scooter. 

The toys will go to one of the ten families in the local area who were nominated and another who was referred by Blackwood Food Bank. 

The nomination process was simple, as Gemma said the rule was: “If you’ve got any ideas of a family that might be struggling, let us know and we’ll see if we can help them.”

Gemma and Layton are already well placed in the community, through personal connections and through their community interest company (CIC) which offers woodworking groups, playdays and a youth group.

This means they already know most of the families they will be delivering to. 

She said: “It’s almost like a friend just sort of giving you a hand.”

The toy drive received extra help from the ToyBox Project, which donated a bag of toys for each child. 

The process has shown Gemma just how many families are in need this year. 

Gemma added: “It’s not just families on benefits that are struggling, it’s working families as well.”

Working with the ToyBox Project and the food bank has inspired Gemma and Layton to think about how they can do this again next year and make it bigger and better. 

She said: “Working with other people, you’ve got more and more of an impact.”

She continued: “I think it would be really good to do this again.”

The donations will be collected at the end of the week and then handed out to families in Blackwood, Markham and Hengoed. 

The couple will deliver the presents on December 23 and luckily the couple have a Santa and elf outfit at home that might just fit the bill.