Play Africa handed out toys to young children for Toy Movement
JOBURG – Play Africa and Spin Master host South Africa's first Toy Movement and will donate toys to 44 000 children around the country.
Play Africa and Spin Master, a global toy company, hosted South Africa’s first Toy Movement to provide thousands of disadvantaged children with toys.
The event, which was hosted on 1 December, saw hundreds of children from four different schools gathering to enjoy a morning of play and entertainment.
Gretchen Wilson-Prangley, the CEO of Play Africa, a non-profit organisation which encourages children to express themselves through play, said that the partnership between Spin Master and Play Africa was a perfect fit. Spin Master was looking to sponsor a toy movement in South Africa and Play Africa works with children to ensure their right to play.
Through Spin Master’s global Toy Movement campaign, the organisations will give thousands of toys to disadvantaged children around the country.
“Many South African children lack toys and other learning tools that can help stimulate a range of child-initiated, open-ended play activities which bolster cognitive, physical, social and emotional development,” said Wilson-Prangley.
The launch of the Toy Movement campaign had support from Just Fun Toys, Nickelodeon South Africa, Ty, which manufactures plush toys, and Value Logistics. About 300 children from local schools, including Parktown Public School and Nkosi’s Haven, which helps care for mothers and children with HIV/Aids, were present.
The children received toys, meals and enjoyed live entertainment from the characters from Paw Patrol. A further 44 000 toys will be distributed to hospitals, orphanages, schools and community centre’s across the country during the holiday season.
Mark Segal, Spin Master’s executive vice president of finance and the chief financial officer said, “Spin Master’s vision is to make life more fun, and based on our position in the toy industry we feel it’s our responsibility to help children in need.
“The Toy Movement has the goal of bringing inspiration and the opportunity to learn, grow and play to children living in challenging situations and that’s what we hope to inspire. Many of us have roots in South Africa, so this is a particularly gratifying initiative.”
Children will receive the toys through partner organisations, including 73 schools and crèches, five hospitals, seven orphanages, and dozens of NGOs, including Afrika Tikkun, The Ernie Els Centre For Autism, South Africa, Ikageng Itireleng and Smart Start.
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