My son's school has just binned lots of toys!

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after the christmas fayre on saturday, my ds's school has thrown into the garbage, all the toys left over from the toy stall.....
i think this is such a waste. there are so many poor kids in this world, and yet this school thinks it is acceptable to turn into landfill, toys that are perfectly acceptable.

any suggestions from anyone about how to make sure this doesnt happen again. apparently the charity shops dont want them because they are overloaded with people clearing things out so they can buy more toys. and the hospitals wont take soft toys.
i would really appreciate some ideas

This sends out a truly terrible message . Why not get each class to box some up and send them to orphanages in Africa for example, with notes and pictures?

\link{http://www.sosvillages.org.za/index.html\SOS Villages} are worldwide, not just in South Africa, but are a very worthwhile recipient.

Some children have so little...

well aside from anything else, couldn't they have asked the younger kids to pick one each, say, if they wanted of the toys that werer left over????

otherwise would a local HV know of a toy library/toddler group etc that could do with them?

We sent a couple of big bags of teddies and toys to a women's refuge last autumn, who were more than happy to accept them.

Many nurseries and playgroups are happy to accept too.

And whatabout doctors/dentist waiting rooms?

The only way to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again is to put yourself forward as the person who will dispose of the toys. Then you can decide where they go and what happens to them.

Seems like bad organisation to me - I can't believe all charity shops would refuse them outright. Even if someone just put the toys in plastic sacks and left them outside the door of one of the shops, it would have been something.

I know for a fact that some charity shops don't always use the stuff they are given. They have arrangements with clearanace businesses who collect all their surplus clothing, books, toys etc on a regular basis. Much of it is then put in containters and sent abroard.

thank you all for your suggestions.
yes, i think the best way is to make sure i am on the committee next year.
charity shops here do refuse things. when i had a clearout of my kids wardrobes, the Save the Children shop wouldnt accpet them because they already had to much stuff! i had to take them accross the road to cancer research. Its to do with only being able to keep so much stuff on sit e before violating fire regulations.
the problem with soft toys apparently is that the fur/cloth can harbour germs. but surely a wash would sort that out?
i must look into the african orphanages possibility.
many thanks

I never think it's a good idea to recycle soft toys as they can harbour germs but something like Lego can be washed - did they throw really good stuff away?

Soft toys can be frozen for three days (I think) then they are sterile......

My Mother (who is a headteacher) did this after her jumble sale last week because she just didn't have any where to store the toys in school. She was gutted because she said there was some nice stuff, but she doesn't have the time to organise anything else.

I would suggest that next year you or someone else organises what happens to the toys because the teachers will not want to do it as they are too busy at this time of year