This is me Sarah mum of 3: Time for Giving!

Lots has happened this year, so many wonderful things, our life changed quite dramatically with a house move, leaving our home and school friends behind, but I've also had some of the best opportunities this year too.

Moving house and going through a tough time made me realise that it was more important than ever to turn a tough time into something good, I decided I wanted to find something for me to do in the new community, and I set my mind on becoming a Homestart Volunteer after reading about the charity online. I started my course in May and have been supporting a family for the past 5 months. I have blogged about Homestart before here: you can make a difference too

And we were lucky enough to become Toys R us Toyologists this year which has been an amazing opportunity and I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 6 months and I'm very thankful to all the people behind the scenes on the Toys R us facebook page who put alot of time and effort into making sure the program is ran smoothly and they do a great job!

2011 has really been a roller coaster of a year, and as it draws to a close what better way to combine the two things that have been highlights of this year than to donate one last box of toys kindly supplied by the good people at the Toyologist headquarters to the Charity that is close to my heart.

So it was with Great Pleasure that I passed on this amazing selection of Toys to Tracy at Homestart South Derbyshire.

Homestart support over 73,000 children across the uk with schemes in most areas offering support and friendship when its needed most, My local scheme, Homestart South Derbyshire, helped support and improve the lives of 240 children last year, being apart of this charity has been amazing giving just a few hours each week but knowing that in doing that you really are offering a friend to someone who really needs it, and that can make all the difference in children's and parents lives is truly rewarding.

Homestart hosted there annual Christmas Party a few days back which was attended by over 30 children. This event gave the families a chance to come together enjoy a walk around local forestry centre and get together for Jacket Potatoes and a meet from Santa Claus!

Homestart not only offer families the weekly support of volunteers which go to families homes to offer friendship and support personally, but they also run many play activities and events such as this Christmas party through the year which adds to their support, these events give families the chance to gain confidence and can be a real life line to those who feel isolated in the community.