Green Party Councillor Aine Groogan has said that a successful pre-loved toy scheme that delivered festive joy to 2,000 children across Belfast last Christmas shows that, "politics can make a positive difference if done properly."

Cllr Groogan proposed the scheme at the end of last year, involving toys donated to Belfast City Council's recycling centers distributed back into the community. A recently published report on the scheme set out that thirteen van loads of toys were collected at recycling centers meaning that around 7.5 tonnes of items were diverted from landfill.

The Green Party NI Cllr for Botanic said: "This scheme was a huge success, bringing joy at Christmas to over 2,000 children. Last year was a particularly tough one for parents with rocketing utility and food costs, so this scheme hopefully provided temporary respite from hardship for many families and Christmas morning joy for children.

"I was delighted to propose the scheme and work with our charity partners in making it happen. Politics is often difficult and demoralising in this part of the world, but this scheme shows that politics can make a positive difference if done properly. 

"In fact, such was it's success, that I would hope that this toy collection and scheme can become an annual event across our city."