Our wonderful community of knitters turn balls of wool and tasty chocolates into unique gifts and stocking fillers. Help out by knitting yourself, donate to our chocolate pot or buy some of the amazing knits online or at a Christmas Fair near you.
Donating toys, presents and magical moments
Thank you so much for thinking of Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. Your generosity means so much to us and the families we support.
There are lots of ways to help make Christmas brighter for the children and families who need us, whether by donating new toys, purchasing a gift from our wish list or getting involved in our festive fundraising activities.
You can find out more about the different ways to get involved on this page.
Thank you for helping us light up Christmas for families that need us.
Ways to support us at Christmas
Shop our Amazon Christmas wish list
Our Care team add a selection of gifts handpicked for the children and young people we support on our dedicated Amazon Christmas wish list. If you buy an item from here, please email supportercare@shootingstar.org.uk as we don’t receive this information from Amazon.
Buy a Virtual Gift
Help to fund some of the services the families we support value most, from swimming in our hydrotherapy pool to creating a personalised memory box. Our range of gifts make ideal presents as well.
Dropping off new toys
Shooting Star House
We are very happy to accept unwrapped new toy donations at Shooting Star House in Hampton during these times:
Mondays: 10am–12pm
Tuesdays: 10am–12pm and 2pm–4pm
Thursdays: 2pm–4pm
Please contact our Supporter Care team in advance if you can so we can ensure someone is available to take collection. To give Santa’s elves enough time to work their magic and load up the sleigh, we kindly ask for presents to be dropped off by 22 December. We are also very happy to accept donations at our shops and donation station throughout the year.
Frequently asked questions
We can’t accept:
- Soiled, stained, or damaged items
- Ice skates
- Swimming aids/inflatables
- Broken or incomplete plastic toys
- Handknitted clothes/blankets (due to no care label)
- Balloons
- Oversized soft toys
We are very happy to accept these at our charity shops (see below), but we can only accept brand new, unopened items for supported children.
We kindly ask that donations are not wrapped in paper, so that our care team can ensure each gift is appropriate and safe for the child receiving it.
For the latest list of suitable gifts, please check our Amazon Wish List.
Donations of pre-loved toys and other items
We are very happy to receive pre-loved toys and other second hand donations at our shops.