Cram the Van say thank you to Skye & Lochalsh

More than 220 babies, children, and teenagers across the Skye and Lochalsh area will receive toys and gift vouchers this Christmas thanks to Radio Skye’s Cram the Van festive appeal.

The annual drive by the island-based radio station has been boosted by an outpouring of support across the local community ensuring that children as young as two months old to young adults aged up 19 will not miss out this Christmas.

The station’s appeal has benefitted from another bumper year of toy and cash donations thanks to the efforts of partner organisations and the generosity of countless people across the local communities of Skye and Lochalsh, which all goes towards distributing toys to families who need an extra bit of help at Christmas.

In addition to the work undertaken behind the scenes at Cram the Van HQ in Portree, Radio Skye station manager Suzy Lee was keen to stress that festive appeal would not be possible were it not for the collaboration of agencies including the Highland Council’s children services, social work, welfare and benefits, the youth action team, and the criminal justice department. The station also collaborated with Women’s Aid, Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers, Skye and Lochalsh Health Visitor Services and Skye and Lochalsh Citizens Advice Bureau.

The toys and gifts are distributed to families to give to their children as their own gifts, so they can wrap them and use the vouchers to either give directly or buy something for their children. The campaign is completely confidential and aims to take the pressure off families at a tough time of year.

Commenting to the Free Press Suzy Lee said: “We just want to say a huge thank you to everyone that helped make Cram The Van a success this year, we at Radio Skye are very proud of the campaign and the community of Skye and Lochalsh because it’s not about Cram The Van giving toys to children, it’s about helping families feel they can give to their own children, this is an important aspect to the campaign that I think gets missed and we want to make sure everyone understands how it works.

“Every year the need has grown, and every need is identified through our partners who work directly with the families Cram the Van supports. They know the situation people face and Cram the Van makes sure all requests for help are met and we really hope that it can make a difference and bring a bit of cheer to families this Christmas.”

Suzy also underlined that the campaign would not have been so successful if it were not for the incredible community of Skye and Lochalsh who donated so generously either toys or money. And she wished to put on record Radio Skye’s whole-hearted thanks for the compassion and kindness shown again this year.

Rankins Supermarket kindly sponsored the 2021 appeal and Radio Skye were delighted to work with an independent supermarket whose focus is to support the local community. Cormack Painters and Decorators, James McQueen Builders, Portree Community Council, Portree and Braes Community Trust, Islands and Highlands Cottages, NFU Portree and Kennedy Accountants, all also generously supported the campaign.

The appeal also received funding by The Cairngorm Group and Highland Council Discretionary Fund. This along with toy and cash donations from RBS Portree, Church of Scotland Bible Group and Bank of Scotland.

Suzy Lee went on to say: “We’ve had incredible support by local businesses and individuals this year, we couldn’t have done it without you. Every year our teenage age group grows and this year we provided 93 teenagers with gift vouchers. That is why it is so important to promote cash-giving and sponsorship, it means we can plan for this age group.

“We know there is a huge gap between those who can afford to buy for their children and those who can’t, and we want to make sure we can provide a voucher that can be used to buy a decent gift and do our part to lessen that gap. So, if you are a business and want to support local children and families in your local community, then get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.’

Radio Skye also wished to express a special thanks to Mo Hannah and the team at Skye and Lochalsh Citizens Advice Bureau who gave them their kitchen and office space to sort and store the toys. Over the last couple of years, the campaign has grown in need and the station has struggled to house all the donations so it was a huge help to have a bigger location and meant we could have more volunteers to help sort the toys especially considering the social distance needed.

For more information on sponsorship for next year please contact Suzy on 01478 611796 or suzy@radioskye.com