Milton Keynes charity gets Christmas cracker of a boost from John Lewis and Waitrose

Toybox, based in Bletchley, helps children forced to live on the streets in seven different countries and fights to get them into schools and stable homes.

The organisation is one of 48 charities selected by Advent of Change to be part of their Christmas collection available in John Lewis stores nationwide.

Advent of Change, now in its third year, was set up to support charities through the sale of ethical Christmas items via John Lewis and Waitrose.

The range includes advent calendars, which have a different charity behind each door, and also Christmas crackers.

Toybox will feature behind a door in two of the advent calendars on sale - the children's advent calendar and the premium advent calendar - as well as inside the Christmas crackers

Advent of Change began with founder Kristina’s Salceanu's idea to reverse the consumerist nature of Christmas and bring back the giving spirit. The innovative social enterprise caught the attention of John Lewis and Partners, who will again be stocking the calendars in stores and online this year.

John Lewis Christmas goods buyer Dan Cooper said: “In my role, I get to see some really interesting and exciting new products, but Advent of Change really stood out to me as an incredibly innovative way of giving back during the festive season.”

Advent of Change has also secured endorsements from household names such as Richard Branson, Joanna Lumley, Greg James, Lawrence Dallaglio and has even received an award from the Prime Minister for its outstanding contribution to charity and the community.

Last year Advent of Change raised £300,000 for its chosen charities and Kristina is hoping for another good result this year.

She said: “It’s been a challenging year for the charity sector which is facing losses of £10bn due to increased demand for services and lost fundraising income due to the Covid-19 pandemic. One of the main reasons I launched Advent of Change back in 2018 was to enable people to donate to multiple charities with one purchase, helping a number of different causes, and this is needed now more than ever. "

"We aim to create the world’s kindest products and are delighted to announce more products that will support more charities for 2020. We are extremely proud to be representing Toybox with our products.”

Toybox started working in Guatemala City in 1992, and is still there today, working with children who have been plunged into the chaos of living or working on the streets. It now works in El Salvador, Bolivia, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Kenya.

The charity is committed to ending the global injustice of children living and working on the city streets. It helps children marginalised and abused by those who should protect them and works with local organisations who are best placed to help find the most appropriate ways to prevent and help children escape from a life on the streets.

You can read more about the charity here