Derry schoolgirl Yazmin Doherty, seven, wins Child Superstar award for amazing Christmas Toy Appeal

"The event was hosted in the staircase based on the movie, the Titanic, and that is where the sit-down meal was hosted as well as the awards. Yazmin had a wonderful time,” proud dad Gerard Doherty, director of the local OFCOM-licensed radio station River Radio, reveals to The Journal.

The highly-deserved award recognises Yazmin for her hard work and determination with the Toy Appeal, the concept of which young Yazmin formed when she was just three-years old.

The aim is to ensure no local child goes with a toy at Christmas, with toys also distributed to children at Altnagelvin Hospital.

Each year River Radio chooses a charity partner for the toy appeal and the last three years have supported the Salvation Army.

Reflecting upon his daughter’s drive and empathy for others, Gerard reveals how highly involved Yazmin is in every aspect of the Toy Appeal.

“The Toy Appeal is a vision and idea for kids by a kid. It helps ensure local kids in the area do not have to wake up to being without a toy at Christmas.

"Every year it has grown and we have gained so much support from the local community. The demand has probably increased twice-fold and last year we helped over 3,000 kids wake up to a toy in Derry and Strabane.”

Gerard adds: "I think the Toy Appeal has made such an impact because of Yazmin’s energy and enthusiasm, because she has been involved in it from day one.

"Yazmin goes round to all of the businesses, she gives them all her banners, setting up the drop-off location, she goes round collecting the toys to put into ‘Santa’s Workshop’, as Yazmin calls it – but it is the warehouse where we sort and allocate the toys for charities and community groups. She has been involved since day dot.

"For a seven-year old, what she does is incredible. Yazmin goes to school, does her cheerleading and plays her football. I think her sports has helped instill that drive and discipline. Sometimes she is up until the early hours of the morning helping to distribute the toys in the lead-up to Christmas when the demand is massive.

"I think it is important that Yazmin is so involved in every aspect of the Toy Appeal because this is an idea created by a child, ran by a child and has been created for children.

"The Toy Appeal concept all stems from the cost of living crisis and the pandemic, but it goes to show how a child sees the world – because it is all her vision. It is for a child by a child, which is what makes the Toy Appeal so unique and successful,” Gerard says.

"If you think of a child waking up and not getting a toy on 25 December, Christmas would be ruined for that little child. So it is more than just a toy, it is saving that magical feeling of Christmas for the child and that is why Yazmin is so passionate about it.”

The Toy Appeal has expanded to not just toys, as Gerard explains: “We were walking through Foyleside one day and there was a queue of people who were queued up to see Santa, and we heard a child asking to join the queue as well. Her mummy said ‘No, we will go another day.’

"Yazmin asked me, ‘Why can’t their mum take them to see Santa?’ I explained that some people just cannot afford it at the minute and she said, ‘Why don’t we do something with the Toy Appeal?’ So we decided there and then to put it together. We worked with Toytown Lisnagelvin, our toy partner and Smyths Toy Store and we put a Santa’s grotto into both toyshops at Christmas time. In fact, Yazmin got the inspiration to put the grotto into the toy shop when she was watching Home Alone!

"When we were watching it she turned to me and said, ‘we should put a grotto in a toy shop – and so that is what we did!”

During the festive fun events, children were able to get a free photo with Santa in a toy shop grotto, as well as meet different mascots, and everyone got to see the “amazing Bear Run 74 Mustang and Santa arrived in Sandy Arthur’s big red lorry."

River Radio helps to deliver toys right up to the early hours of Christmas Day, supporting families all over the North West.

Local schools, community groups, and over 20 local businesses, as well as the wider local community have gotten behind the amazing appeal to ensure that no local kid wakes up without a toy, which Gerard says “as a collective makes the appeal successful and ensures the magic of Christmas for kids in the north west.

“It’s local people supporting local kids each year with the River Radio Toy Appeal.”

Dad Gerard adds that both he and his wife Nichola, who attended the glittering event with Yazmin in the Titanic Exhibition Centre alongside Yazmin's godmother Brieg Ramsey, are incredibly proud of their daughter, enthusing: “It is lovely at Christmas time, because it is something nice that we get to do together as well as helping to instill such good values.”