7-year-old commits to Teardrops collections to help the homeless

During lockdown in 2020, an emotional advert for the 'Save the Children' charity really struck a chord with Toby Unwin, from Newton-le-Willows, who was "really upset" that children go without food or toys in other parts of the world.

In what his mum thought was a phase as the country was stuck indoors, Toby insisted that he wanted to send his pocket money to the charity to help needy children.

Toby has collected food donations at local supermarkets to help those less fortunate than him

However, this selfless effort only catalysed a desire to help others in Toby.

He made sure that his family donated food packages and essential items to Afghan and Ukrainian refugees over the past two years, and has more recently become concerned with helping the homeless in St Helens.

Over Christmastime, Toby and his family donated food packages and toys to St Helens-based charity Teardrops Supporting Your Community, to support people on the streets through this difficult time.

Toby's home has filled with donations after an appeal to the community

As Toby has autism, his mum Shell said this is a subject that he "will not let go" and wants to carry on helping these vulnerable people.

Taking to Facebook to appeal for donations, Shell's house has been flooded with food, toiletries, and essential items, with Toby and his mum travelling around Newton to collect the donations from people's homes and local supermarkets.

Shell said: "Since the appeal for 'Save The Children' in lockdown, it's really stuck with Toby to help others.

"We've occasionally seen people on the streets and he gets really upset when it's wet or cold because he always wants to help them.

"Due to his autism, Toby is very specific and won't let this go so I put my appeal out, and the response from people has been unbelievable."

Toby's mum Shell is "amazed" at his compassion for others

After his efforts have been supported by the local community, Shell said that Toby is "insistent" that he wants to carry this task on.

He will drop off all the donations at Teardrops later this week and speak with staff members about how he can help the charity on a regular basis.

"Amazed" at the level of compassion her son has at such a young age, Shell said she can only see Toby's desire to help others continuing as he gets older.