Staff in the Litter Management Unit in Galway City Council banded together this Christmas to spread joy and cheer by donating over €1,000 worth of toys to the Children’s Department at University Hospital Galway.
On Tuesday 10 December 2024, the Litter Management crew headed to Smyths Toystore on Headford Road with €1,040 in hand to buy toys for all the children spending time in hospital in Galway City this Christmas.
Aoife Larkin, Clinical Nurse Manager in the Paediatric Unit of University Hospital Galway, joined the crew in Smyths to assist with selecting the toys the children would like the most. The crew picked out a large selection, from baby dolls to dinosaurs, trucks and Disney princesses. Smyths Toystore also donated €100 worth of toys, bringing the total donation up to €1,140.
Tommy Molloy, Ganger with the Litter Management Unit, Galway City Council and the organiser of the money collection, said; “This started back during Lent this year, right before Easter. Two of the lads were not eating chocolate for Lent and as a joke I brought in two Easter Eggs to the canteen to tempt them. More of the crew started to do the same until we had 40 eggs in the canteen! We were wondering what to do with all the eggs when one of the lads suggested we donate them to the Paediatric Department so that’s what we did. They were just delighted to get them. A few months later after hearing about what we did with the Easter Eggs, my boss Jimmy O’Connor said we should do something special for the children in hospital at Christmas. The 35 staff in the Litter Management Unit contributed €30 each to buy toys – raising €1,040 in total. It was great to raise as much money as we did and we’re delighted to help the hospital in this way. No child or parent wants to be in hospital at Christmas – so hopefully this will raise their spirits a bit this year.”
The toys will be distributed to children of different ages over Christmas and some will also be available in the playroom of the Paediatric Unit.
Some of the toys will also be given out over the course of the year to help encourage the children to adjust to medication and treatment.