Toybox is passionate about reaching for the most disadvantaged children, young people and their families. We seek to care for the children, empower them and make their voices heard. Globally we seek to champion their cause.

advocacy n.
The act of pleading or arguing in favour of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy; active support.

Toybox seeks to be an advocate for the street children; to be a voice for them and to raise awareness of their plight in Latin America and across the world.

UK

From London to Edinburgh, from Wales to Canada, Toybox is spreading the word about street children. There are millions of street children the world over who need people to speak up for them and to explain why change is needed. Our growing team of volunteer speakers is taking the stories of the children to schools, churches, interest groups and special events. Wherever there are people willing to listen, we aim to be there to tell them more.

Toybox is developing relationships with those in positions of power – MPs, Politicians and local authorities - to ensure that the plight of street children is kept on their agenda and that there are people in authority who are able and willing to speak up for those in need. Toybox also participates in lobbying and campaigning. In 2008 we commissioned a petition calling for more funding to be directed to Latin America, where we were able to present more than a thousand signatures at No.10 Downing Street.

The more people that know, the more people will support and the more children will be helped. These children need a world of change – will you play your part? Click here to sign up for our fortnightly e-bulletin ‘Toybox Active’ and find out how you can be a voice for the street children.

Our UK Advocacy Partners

Toybox works with a number of coalitions of UK-based organisations. Together we can have a bigger impact in our campaigning actions, and amplify our voices so that we draw closer to a world with no street children.

Here are the main groups we are involved with:

Consortium for Street Children – A collection of 59 UK based organisations working in 89 countries dedicated to the rights and welfare of street living children, street working children and those at high risk.

Global Campaign for Education – We are involved in their 2010 ‘Send my Friend to school’ campaign - 1 Goal: Education for all; which is using the World Cup as a springboard to campaign for universal primary education.

Micah Challenge – Toybox is part of this Christian movement which is supporting the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the halving of poverty by 2015.

Go back to: What We Do
Go on to: Advocacy in Latin America

Let’s make 2010 a year to remember!

It seems like a long time ago that street children first made their way onto the global agenda in the early 90s. Many people would be forgiven for believing that we had solved that problem, and yet, as you know, this is not the case. There are millions of children growing up on city streets around the world, and the general feeling is that their numbers are rising. We need to raise their profile once more and alert the world to unfinished business.

What can we do to help? We can raise our voices to let the government know that its citizens are concerned about the issue of street children and want it to make a difference.

Could you spare a few minutes to write to your local MP? Please see below for a sample letter you could write encouraging him or her to be aware of the issues surrounding street children and to champion street children within the House of Parliament.
You can find out the name of your local MP at http://findyourmp.parliament.uk

We would really love to know how you get on! Please do let us know who you have written to and send us a copy of any response you have received. This will help us a great deal in knowing what impact our campaign is having, bringing any interested MPs together and in subsequent conversations with them should we come across them in the House of Commons. Go to 'Get Political' or email advocacy@toybox.org