Whitehaven's Tot Spot is a collection point for donations

The Whitehaven business, known as Tot Spot, is a children's soft play area in Roper Street, and it is collecting various items for refugees fleeing from Ukraine to Poland.

The donated items are being collected and given to Dino's in Maryport, a Polish shop which also has a branch in Carlisle, after which Dino's will be transporting everything to Poland to give to the refugees.

Last Saturday (February 26), Tot Spot held a Freecycle event as a response to the rising energy prices making more and more things unaffordable.

Manager and owner Angie Gresley said that even buying toys and clothes from charity shops can be too expensive.

Freecyclicng, a combination of free and recycling, involves people donating things for others to come and take for free.

But Angie said she was left with more donations from others than she gave away - hence the idea to donate them to children in Ukraine.

Tot Spot, in Whitehaven, had a lot of surplus toys from a freecycle event they held last Saturday. Along with further donations, these are being given to Ukrainian refugees in Poland

Angie said: "There are collection points around Cumbria and one of the organisers of our event on Saturday has very kindly offered to take what was left to one of the collection points for shipping to the people that need it the most."

She said the donations welcome for this drive are: 

• Nappies
• Wet wipes
• Sleeping bags for adults and children
• Thermal clothing
• Kids hats, scarfs and gloves
• Dry food - preferably in instant pots ready to use with boiling water
• Small packs of teas and coffees
• Sweets for children in small packs
• Protein bars or similar snacks
• Toilet rolls
• Thermal cups
• Small baby lotions
• Small barrier cream for babies
• Tissues in small packs
• Flashlights – preferably head mounted
• Painkillers, plasters and bandages
• Sanitary towels
• Baby milk – unopened
• Small toys

Collections are going on for the next two weeks.

A further response to the rise in energy prices has been seen in another Tot Spots endeavour, in the form of gifted sessions.

Angie explained that people who can't afford a play session can simply walk in and request one.

Toys aren't the only things being collected, other things like nappies, sanitary towels, food, and clothes are needed too

These gifted sessions work by having people willing to donate a session - this is organised by having them write down their details, so that if someone erquests a gifted session, it is charged to someone on the list - no one is charged in advance.

These sessions cost around £7, she said, and are available to anyone who needs them.