THE Wee County Christmas shop will return this year, with a new band of eager volunteers taking up the reins this winter.

Staff with the Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface (CTSi) launch the venture later this month and will be looking for donations of good-quality, pre-loved items will be accepted from Monday, November 20, up until Friday, December 15.

Now in its fourth year, the shop is known for its "take what you need, pay what you can" ethos and has previously been located at Coalgate and Bank Street in Alloa.

It will be based at The Hub on Whins Road in Sauchie and supported and run by staff of CTSi, Alloa Community Enterprises (ACE) and a bank of volunteers.

Anthea Coulter, CTSi business manager, said: "We are delighted to help keep this important event going as we understand the importance for children from all walks of life, getting a range of new toys and stocking fillers at Christmas.

"Not only that, our great tapestry volunteers were delighted to sign up to help and meet up again, to share in the joy of volunteering at this time of year.

"We are also really pleased that some younger volunteers from schools are going to be involved so we thought to mark this occasion, the shop is now named after our youth volunteering mascot, 'Super Sandy's Christmas Toy Hub'."

The shop will be open for business from 9am-5pm between Monday, December 4, and Tuesday, December 19.

It will be based in CTSi's old office space with easy access and parking and, as in previous years, there are no prices on toys and it is donations only.

All funds from the shop will be donated to the CTSi Local Community Fund, which was established after the success of the great tapestry exhibition in the summer and has just closed its first application round, which will be announced shortly.

The fund will also be boosted with the upcoming CTSi Christmas Community Concert to be held on Wednesday, November 29, at Alloa Town Hall and involves a wide range of local performance groups.

Tickets are £12 and £8 for concessions are on sale at the Speirs Centre or by calling the ticket hotline on 213131 and they can be posted out.

Anthea, who is excited about the upcoming event, said: "CTSi is helping to host this event, but it is the groups, who are mainly our own members who have to be commended for wanting to help to raise money for local causes by donating their skills and time to this community event – it should be a great night but hurry, tickets are going fast."

Please contact Danielle or Kirsty at CTSi on 01259 213840 to find out more about donating toys or volunteering in the shop.