Children's world fact: buy toys for free

Children’s clothing and toys are expensive – in the children’s world, those in need can buy donated clothes and toys for free! Especially when you are already dependent on financial support, you cannot always afford to buy something new. In the children’s world, donations are processed, repaired, cleaned and ultimately sold. You can shop here not with Money, but only with points.

Children grow out of their clothes all the time and toys quickly become uninteresting again. This is particularly problematic, if the own wallet is narrow. On the other hand, many do not even know what to do with once used items. Clothing in particular often ends up in the trash. Germans alone throw away around a billion items of clothing that can still be worn every year.

Toys and children’s clothing > Since 2013 there has been the fact of the children’s world in Dinslaken as part of the labor market preparation activity center. Customers of the job center can test their suitability for work in sales here. After Mönchengladbach, the third children’s world opened in Erkelenz in early 2017.

The fact children’s world in the fact check

Buying clothes with points? How is that supposed to work and where do you get these points from? We wanted to have this explained directly to a specialist. Graduate educator Christian Kaufmann has been working at Faktor for 6 years now and has been part of the children’s world from the beginning.

fact blog: Hello Mr. Kaufmann, the children’s world has recently been represented in Erkelenz. Who is currently working there??

Christian Kaufmann: On the one hand, I work in Erkelenz, but I am not alone in the children’s world: Tanja Maßen took on the artistic support of our project participants and Anna Zaharova took care of them socio-pedagogically. And of course there are the other staff at Factum who actively contribute to the success of the children’s world.

fact blog: What is the children’s world actually?

Christian Kaufmann: The Children’s World is a social project in which beneficiaries (ALG 2), refugees and asylum seekers can exchange points for toys and children’s clothing without money after submitting their assessment notice.

fact blog: And how exactly does it work?

Christian Kaufmann: You come to us and submit a letter of performance. Then you will be added to our customer file and, as long as the performance notice is valid, you will receive a correspondingly long customer card.

Circles are shown on the customer card: each circle has a value of 10 points. You have 10 circles per month, for a total of 100 points on your card, and that for 12 months. If you buy something, the corresponding amount of points or the respective number of circles will be canceled upon exchange.

fact blog: And everyone gets 100 points?

Christian Kaufmann: Everyone gets 100 points. There are 100 points, no matter how many children you have. A gifted 100 euro bill would only be there once.

However, you can buy three parts for each child you have. That means: if you have three children, you can buy a total of nine parts. We set this limit of three parts per child so that all the beautiful little parts are not gone at once.

fact blog: Can you also buy in the children’s world as a non-ALG 2 subscriber?

Christian Kaufmann: No, you can’t. So people who get their services not from the job center, but from the city, yes – that means asylum seekers and refugees. But not otherwise. The children’s world is intended for those who cannot afford everything in everyday life and not for bargain hunters.

fact blog: You have to be a customer for factum?

Christian Kaufmann: No, but of course it also affects our customers. Because they can also exchange their points because they are also related to benefits.

fact blog: You have to be registered in Erkelenz?

Christian Kaufmann: The notice of performance must come from the Heinsberg district, which can also be Wegberg, for example. The district of Heinsberg is crucial for us.

fact blog: In which cities has the children’s world existed and since when??

Christian Kaufmann: The first shop has been in Dinslaken for several years. The children’s world in Rheydt followed in May 2014. And we have been in Erkelenz since January 18 this year.

The nice thing: Before that, there was a rather unsightly bank branch here in Erkelenz. We then embellished the premises ourselves and designed them to be child-friendly.

fact blog: And who are the employees?

Christian Kaufmann: Women and men work in the children’s world who take part in the Aktivcenter project in Erkelenz. At the moment it is mainly single mothers who work for us.

fact blog: What is the active center?

Christian Kaufmann: On the whole, it should serve to introduce project participants to everyday work in sales. You get an overview of warehouse and administration, are taught how to deal with difficult customers and so on. In the end they can say with certainty: "Yes, the sale is right for me ” or just "No, that doesn’t fit."

These include, for example, women with children who are sometimes 7, 8 or 9 years old and are gradually returning to work. This project offers them the opportunity to get a taste of this specialty in order to perhaps decide to do so. This is not for everyone, but they definitely tried it and can get an idea, it is worth a lot.

Incidentally, our employee Tanja Maßen herself was once a participant in the active center in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt before she was hired by Factum three months ago. Now she looks after the artistic work of the participants and is at your side with advice and action.

faktum blog: How can you donate and what exactly?

Christian Kaufmann: The original idea was to only accept children’s toys. But then we added children’s clothing and that’s the real hit now. But we set the limit at 14 years plus or minus, i.e. H. we have clothing up to size 164 as an upper limit. Down there we have everything from toys to baby rattles.

The donations do not have to be in perfect condition either. If donations come in, we do everything that is necessary: we repair, we clean and disinfect, so that stuffed animals are like new again.

fact blog: What do you do if you have something to donate? Then you just come over?

Christian Kaufmann: Yes, most of them just bring the donations over or they come to the store beforehand and ask: "Can you use this here?"

The nice thing is: They actually come back and unload the things here. That works very well, especially in Erkelenz, I have to say. That is also due to the form of the community, I guess, it is just a little more rural and therefore very communal.

fact blog: Is there anything else that is needed?

Christian Kaufmann: You can’t actually say that. Our customer base is still quite small and inquiries are also seasonal.

But when the new school year or the start of kindergarten are just around the corner, we of course always need everything in school supplies and the like. Of course, we also need these things out of order, after all we cannot control the donations.

fact blog: Are there really big toys?

Christian Kaufmann: There are really great things like prams that are like new. We will then give them more points. Children’s desks or loft beds are also included.

Of course, these are our orchids when they come in. Usually this happens through other positions or within the family, so we are very lucky if we can get something like that. We then try to determine the value on the Internet and offer the articles at a fair number of points. One should also not forget: In the end, the things are still free!

fact blog: What was your best experience so far?

Christian Kaufmann: Once there were parents with their child, who was affected by Down syndrome and initially did not feel like being with us. But in the end we made the boy really happy, so he left with a really big grin. That was great.

The nicest thing is simply when you know that things will later be in the right hands and that someone will be really happy about them.

Incidentally, Lego and Duplo, the old classics, are still the best seller. When we get something in there, our employees try to organize it according to topics and that is particularly appreciated.

fact blog: And how has the new children’s world started?

Christian Kaufmann: It is well received. For example, helpers from an association in Erkelenz, which takes care of asylum seekers, like to come to us with their protégés. But others are also showing keen interest, for example, we’ve been to the newspaper twice. And we are still brand new in Erkelenz, so the trend is increasing!

fact blog: And where can we find the children’s world in Erkelenz?

You can find us at in Kölner Straße 39. We look forward to your visit!

fact blog: Thank you very much, Mr. Kaufmann! We wish you continued success!

Toy donations: this is how you can support the children’s world

Do you have old or broken toys that you no longer need? Then simply pack them in one of our collection boxes, which you can find in many kindergartens and daycare centers in the region. Alternatively, you can also hand them in directly at the Factum Children’s World shops.

Locations of the factum children’s world

Fact of children’s world Mönchengladbach
Hauptstrasse 7 – 9, 41236 Mönchengladbach
Telephone: 02166 998 55 32
Open Monday to Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Fact Dinslaken Children’s World
Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 22, 46535 Dinslaken
Telephone: 02064 82 98 – 495
Open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Fact of children’s world Erkelenz
Kölner Strasse 39, 41812 Erkelenz
Telephone: 02431 805 11 88
Open Monday to Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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