Eight blokes from a local retirement village want no child going without a present this Christmas.
So they have spent the last 11 months making toys for children in Logan, just a they have for the last 16 years.
They call themselves the ‘Toy Boys’.
Every week the gang meets at their workshop in the Palm Lake Resort in Waterford to get to work.
Workable cranes, diggers, rocking horses, cots – the Toy Boys do it all, handcrafting around 40 toys a year.
“16 years ago, a couple of guys got together… and wanted to make toys for kids and give them away on Christmas,” Toy Boy and Palm Lake resident Alan Rider said.
“Lots of the time we don’t see where the toys go, but we know they are going to kids who need something.”
The Toy Boys do get to gift presents to the students at Beenleigh Special School, which Mr Rider said was a special moment.
“We love to see them playing with some of the gifts – they jump on the toys and the rockers, they love that,” he said.
“We try and give them toys they can play with, because although education is alright, it is nice to have a few toys.”
To help pay for all the materials needed to make the toys, the boys run a raffle fundraiser every year.
Mr Rider said the resort has “lovely people” who participate in the raffle, and some who even contribute to the toys.
“I made a couple of swinging cots this year, and we’ve got a lady here who made all the bedding for it,” he said.
“She bought it and made it for us and didn’t charge us anything, which is lovely.
“That is the way people are in this resort.”
The Toy Boys also get a $500 donation from the Mitre 10 at Beenleigh to cover the cost of materials each year.
