Residents donate 10,000 gifts to York Designer Outlet toy appeal

During December last year, the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, together with a local radio partner, hosted its first ever toy appeal, encouraging York residents to donate new toys and give much-needed support to local families in need during the festive period.

The donations included books, puzzles, soft toys, arts and crafts - and these gifts have now been donated to a number of local charities including York Mind Young People Services and The Spirit of Christmas, which both continue to make significant difference to families in the region.

Customers dropped off 10,000 gifts during the appeal in York (Image: UGC)

Paul Tyler, centre manager at the Designer Outlet, said: “The result and response from our toy appeal has been outstanding. We are proud to continue our ongoing commitment to the York community through local initiatives and we would like to thank each and every one of our customers for their support throughout the festive period.

"Ten thousand gift donations is no mean feat, without your kindness we could not have reached so many needy families this Christmas.”

Meanwhile, organiser of The Spirit of Christmas, Ronnie Munro, said the charity was delighted to be one of the beneficiaries of the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet York’s first ever Christmas toy appeal.

Ronnie said: "We were able to support 1,604 children with toy donations throughout 2022. We would like to thank everyone who kindly donated toys to the appeal and would also like to share our gratitude to the centre for helping to raise our profile to the wider local York community, which is invaluable to a small charity like ours.”

With 2023 now officially underway, the centre has shared a reminder of its most recent store openings. In addition to its existing brands, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet York added to its doors with three new high-profile stores in the lead up to Christmas - The Perfume Shop, Sweaty Betty and Carvela. More recently, the centre has also introduced HUGO to customers.

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Over the next few months, the shopping centre will be adding to its roster of stores by welcoming a host of new brands to its site. These include international luggage retailer Samsonite, Japanese sushi bar, Yo Sushi and skincare experts Clarins.

Mr Tyler added: "We have some very exciting store openings on the horizon. With so many favourite brand names already available at our centre, we are thrilled to announce even more well-loved, high-quality, premium brands will be joining our ranks throughout the year.

"With these new additions, we want to remind our customers that whatever your style, our unmatched prices across all our stores are here to stay - and we look forward to welcoming you to the centre in 2023.”