Narrabri toys are now going to WA bush fire victims

For more than a year, Terry Sadler has been busy in his Narrabri West workshop creating new wooden toys for kids in families which have been devastated by bush fires.

Since the fires destroyed hundreds of homes on the South Coast and southern NSW, Terry has been using recycled timber to make toys which have been shipped to families with the assistance of Narrabri West Post office operator Cathy Redding.

Now Terry has, unfortunately, found a new destination for the toys.

Recent bush fires in Western Australia have destroyed many families’ homes and in many cases all their belongings.

Terry has arranged with an old friend, Salvation Army Captain Ray Lotty, who is also NSW VRA Senior Chaplain, to distribute toys to kids in WA.

Captain Lotty’s colleagues, former NSW Salvation Army officers now working in WA, are the contact and distribution points for the toys which will be shipped out in the next few days.

“Kids love these toys,” said Captain Lotty.

“These are made with love and care. Someone I spoke to wondered if the kids would like them because they didn’t have ‘bells and whistles’ and weren’t electronic.

“But I tell you, the kids just love them.

“Every toy is unique. I have seen that even if the children don’t realise how much love and care and skill has gone into making the toys, the parents do realise that and they think, ‘wow’ – someone a long way away has done this for my child.”