Barclaycard and David Walliams launch The Toyshop in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital

Christmas shoppers were in for a surprise as David Walliams was in Covent Garden Piazza, London to officially open The Toyshop to help raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.

Walliams, who recently announced he is to become a father, helped mark the opening of the special toyshop, which has been created by Barclaycard.

The cashless store is stocking everything from pinball machines and Etch-A-Sketches to Running Hamsters and Magic Trees. For every item bought by Christmas shoppers, 100% of profits go towards raising a minimum of £15,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity.

David Walliams said: "I'm proud to be able to help Barclaycard launch The Toyshop as I am a supporter of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. What better way of getting your stocking fillers if you know that you've made a donation to a fantastic cause with each present."

The Toyshop is open until Wednesday, 19th December, opening Monday to Saturday: 10.00am - 8.00pm and on Sunday from 11.00am - 6.00pm. The Toyshop is completely cashless and all items are under £20, allowing consumers to pay using contactless technology.

For people that cannot make it to The Toyshop they can still donate much needed funds to the charity at gosh.org/donate/.

Fiona Bosman, Head of Advertising and Content at Barclaycard, said: "We are thrilled to be able to raise money for Great Ormond Street Children's Charity with the launch of The Toyshop. We're hoping that if people are buying small stocking fillers for under £20 then they'll pick them up from the shop as it will raise essential funds to support the accommodation for parents with children being treated at the hospital."

The Toyshop is part of the Toys campaign and brings the contactless technology that is demonstrated in the TV ad to life in a real world shop. The television advert sees a toy monkey, Mr B, jump to the needs of a toyshop customer who is overwhelmed with the choice available when trying to buy a toy at Christmas.

The shop also features a game station where consumer can play 'Toys Unleashed', a free download available from the Apple App store that features three characters from Barclaycard's television advert, Mr. B, Chomp and Mike.

The toyshop can be found at 23 The Piazza, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8RD.

For more information visit Facebook.com/barclaycard

- ENDS -

About Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity:
Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world’s leading children's hospitals with the broadest range of dedicated children's healthcare specialists under one roof in the UK.
The hospital's pioneering research and treatment gives hope to children who are suffering from the rarest, most complex and often life-threatening conditions, from across the country and abroad.

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity needs to raise £50 million a year to help rebuild and refurbish Great Ormond Street Hospital, provide vital up-to-date equipment and fund research into better treatments for the children.

About Barclaycard:
Barclaycard, part of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, is a leading global payment business, which helps consumers, retailers and businesses to make and accept payments flexibly, and to access short-term credit when needed.

The company is one of the pioneers of new forms of payments and is at the forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and cutting edge forms of payment for the future.  It also issues credit and charge cards to corporate customers and the UK Government. Barclaycard partners with a wide range of organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and credit.

In addition to the UK, Barclaycard operates in the United States, Europe and Africa.

Key facts published in August 2011;

- number of UK customers: 12m
- number of International customers: 10.2m
- number of retailer/merchant relationships: 90,000

PR Contact:
Andrew Bond
Barclaycard Press Office
1234 Pavilion Drive
Northampton
NN4 7SG
+44 (0)1604 25 1229
www.barclaycard.co.uk