Mr and Mrs Claus bring joy to Derry children in hospital as Christmas Toy Drive support leaves organisers 'speechless'

Darren Mellon and Doctor Aidan Campbell recently launched a Christmas Toy Drive to provide presents for Altnagelvin Hospital’s Ward 6 (Paediatrics) and The Butterfly Lodge over Christmas.

The Butterfly Lodge at Altnagelvin Hospital provides a base for a team of Staff Nurses and Children’s Healthcare Assistants who assist in the provision of care packages and short breaks for children with complex healthcare needs within the Community Children’s Nursing Team.

The duo wanted to make the children’s time in hospital ‘a wee bit easier’ and ‘bring them an extra smile in what is obviously a very unfortunate time to be in hospital’ over Christmas.

The toy drive is being held in memory of Darren’s beautiful late niece, Rhiannon Bates, who spent time in Ward 6 before her sad passing at just 13 years old.

Her family will remain forever grateful for the support they received there and know the value of the dedicated staff, who she had a special bond with.

Since the launch of the appeal, Darren and Dr Campbell have been left ‘completely overwhelmed’ by the support of the community in both Derry and beyond.

Darren is behind the Irish Drifting/ Motorsport media page ‘Dirty Drifting,’ which has over 230,000 followers. Many of the supporters have shown their support to the appeal and other media pages and personalities have also driven in behind it.

These include Aidan Corr of Corr Performance, Lucky Day Competitions, Grassmen, King of the Road Ireland, Donkey262 and Limited Slip Differences.

Many local companies have sponsored toys and selection boxes, while hundreds of pounds have been donated via a link on GoFundMe.

All of the proceeds will be going towards new toys, clothes & accessories for all ages ranging from infants to 16-years-old.

The success of the drive means that any extra toys left over when all donations needed by Ward 6 and The Butterfly Lodge are covered, will be donated within the Derry community.

Speaking to the Journal, Darren said he is ‘rarely speechless, but this has left me speechless’.

"The mission for me and Aidan was to be able to get the children in Ward 6 and The Butterfly Lodge, but with all this backing and help, we think we’ll now be able to make a serious difference to kids around Derry.

“We want to make this time a bit easier for people and want to help those in the BT47 and BT48 communities.

“If anyone is in need, they just shouldn’t go without and we want to make sure of that.”

The children in Ward 6 received an early Christmas surprise on Tuesday evening as Santa and Mrs Claus visited them and handed out some treats and festive magic, organised by the appeal.

The Toy Drive and fundraiser will run until December 22 and there’ll be some special surprises at the hospital on the day, including some amazing supercars.

There are two toy drop off points at The Discount Tyre Centre In Springtown and Mace In Bracken Park Store.

You can also donate online at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/christmas-toy-drive-appeal