Maitland people have given a mountain of toys to make sure no child goes without a gift this Thursday.

The Mercury launched an appeal last week for 100 children’s gifts needed for Carrie’s Place domestic violence and homelessness services.

Carrie’s Place had not received its usual donations and this meant many families living in poverty throughout our area would not be able to give gifts to their children on Christmas Day.

Reading Cinemas Maitland manager Yvette Cavanagh jumped on board when she read the Mercury story.

The gifts came pouring into the cinema, thanks to its Facebook followers.

“The cinema had been giving away a lot of movie vouchers and held promotions all year, so I put the Mercury’s story to our 11,000 Facebook followers,” Ms Cavanagh said.

“In the true spirit of giving I asked our followers to bring a toy for a free choc top. Most people didn’t care about the free ice cream, they only wanted to leave a toy.”

There are gifts for all ages including mums, along with hampers, puddings, new clothes, toys, scooters and movie vouchers.

Carrie’s Place operations manager Jenny Harland was left speechless at Maitland people’s generosity when she arrived at the cinema to collect the donations.

“These gifts will make sure everyone receives a parcel this Christmas,” she said. “Maitland people never cease to amaze me with their generosity and I want to thank the cinema for doing this.

“We have had people coming to Carrie’s Place giving cash at our door after reading the Mercury’s story.

“All these gifts will be put into parcels and delivered in time for Christmas Eve.

“To give these families gifts, it is the greatest feeling, because they don’t have anything.”