A biker cafe is holding its annnual Christmas toy run for two children’s hospitals on 15 December.
For 30 years, Ace Cafe London annually visits the children’s wards at Northwick Park Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital to drop off donated gifts for patients aged three to 11, and for the nurses.
A Gofundme was created to raise money for gifts such as Lego sets and Barbies, which exceeded their goal of £1,000 and raised £1,265.
Secret Santa, Dell Cosgrave, who has volunteered on the toy run for over 20 years, said: “It opens your eyes to people that are not as well off as us and need a bit of help, and it’s a nice thing to get involved with.
“Going into the hospitals and seeing the joy on the staff’s faces and the kids’ faces, it’s a very emotional thing to do.”
Since September, Cosgrave and his wife have used the donated money to buy toys from supermarkets.
Any leftover toys will be donated to children’s charities Central London Community Healthcare and Brent CYP.
Cosgrave said: “We don’t expect anybody to give a lot, we would like a lot of people to give a little.
“It’s not about recognition for what we do, it’s about the purpose of what we do.”
At the event, the run’s founder Toy Run Ron – real name, Ron Miles – will drive the Ace van at 10.30am and volunteers will ride Christmas-decorated motorcycles in festive costumes to deliver the gifts.
On returning to the cafe, there will be a prize for the best-dressed rider and the best-dressed bike.
Ace Cafe’s managing director, Mark Wilsmore said: “It’s more about bringing joy to the kids that are not so fortunate around Christmas time.”
In the past, over a hundred volunteers joined the toy run but more recently there have been between 60 and 70 volunteers.
Last year’s toy run saw over £3,000 donated for the gifts, and the event featured on BBC Breakfast.
At 7pm, the cafe will run their annual Christmas carol service which serves hot mince pies.
This is a non-traditional service due to having a rock band sing the carols, making it lively and dynamic.
Chair of the Thames Valley Christian Motorcycle Association (CMA), Kobus Bensch, finds and hires the rock’n’roll carol singers and said: “Everyone seems to love it.”
The service which lasts between 30 and 45 minutes is hosted by The 59 Club, the CMA, and the Ace Cafe.
Chaplain of the 59 club, Father Andrew Gough, has been running the carol service for over 20 years and said: “It’s great singing carols together, a bunch of bikers together, in the Ace which is such a great venue to meet and to have a great way of celebrating Christmas.”
Father Andrew will not be attending this year’s service due to family commitments, so Father Angelo Lebrato will be running it instead.
Ace Cafe is considered to be one of the world’s most famous motor cafes and the home for petrolheads.
The cafe was established in 1938 and welcomes anyone with a passion for motorcycles, cars, and rock ’n’ roll.
The cafe also has locations in Kuala Lumpur, Lahti, Luzern and New Hope, and one coming soon in Sanford.
Picture credits: Mark Wilsmore
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