IKEA launches new fundraising range of toys designed by children
Melanie May | 17 November 2016 | News
IKEA will be selling a new range of toys from next week, designed by children, to raise funds for six charities.
The month-long Play for Change campaign will see funds raised from the toy sales go to six non-profit organisations that run projects devoted to children’s rights to play and develop in countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East to fund the creation of safe spaces for vulnerable children to play.
The campaign launches on 20th November: UN Universal Children’s Day, and for every item of IKEA’s 270-product play range sold between 20th November and 24th December, IKEA Foundation will donate €1 to its six non-profit partners.
While in previous years, the funds from IKEA’s annual Soft Toys for Education campaign have gone to UNICEF and Save the Children, this year the Foundation has widened the campaign to also benefit Handicap International, Room to Read, Special Olympics, and War Child.
The toy collection, called SAGOSKATT, has been designed by children from across the world who were asked to let their imagination run wild and create fantastic creatures as part of its Soft Toys Drawing Competition. Ten winners were picked, aged between five and nine, from over 50,000 entries, with their drawings recreated as soft toys.
This year the campaign aims to raise €770,000 in the UK & Ireland. So far, As a result of its annual campaign, the IKEA Foundation has donated a worldwide total of €88 million to support educational projects for Save the Children and UNICEF, raising €11.1 million in 2015 alone.
Maria Thorn, business area manager for Children’s IKEA said:
“We know just how valuable it is for children to play. Play helps you learn new things and how to interact with people. It is essential. We know that play is learning for life. It is essential for wellbeing and happiness and it spurs creativity – for both children and grown-ups. We want to help everyone to say yes to play.”
All images: copyright IKEA
Advertisement
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.