By Arvind Kalsi
A mother-of-three who has raised funds for years for the Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Christmas Toy Drive is finding donations are now lower due to the cost of living crisis.
Jags Mann, 52, who has been fundraising and giving donations and buying new toys for the Christmas Toy Drive for quite a few years, has only received £20 in donations so far this year and has been putting reminders regularly on her social media about donating.
Mrs Mann, who is a care manager for Sova Healthcare, said: “This year I’m struggling to raise money so I’m going to be using a lot of my own funds.”
She added: “People aren’t willing to give much as they don’t have that much disposable income and that may be due to the cost of living crisis.”
The cost of living crisis in Leicester does seem to be an ongoing issue with housing rent costs increasing by 7.4% (source: ons.gov.uk) and inflation, although falling from its peak, still being at 3.8% as of September 2025 (source: reuters), energy bills have also increased from October 2025 and council tax in Leicestershire rising by 4.99% (source: leicestershire.gov.uk) adding more household burdens on residents.
Mrs Mann said she started fundraising due to two of her nephews separately dying stillborn, and seeing children and baby wards with no toys, which drove her to want to start making donations for the Christmas Toy Drive.
Leicester Hospitals Charity’s Christmas Toy Drive takes place on Friday, December 19, in the car park of the Holiday Inn Express Leicester City and people donating must book an appointment with the charity to drop off the toys and the money given donated through their website online.
