Community Story - Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre
"We have a ten-year lease and our landlord is Barnardos - so a great fit for both of us. The building has been empty for several years and is in desperate need of repair..."
Today we are in the East End of London, taking a trip to the Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre an educational charity, which provides babies and children under the age of five with a stimulating and creative learning environment. It’s a fantastic organisation that we’ve been proud to help support for several years, especially as their services are particularly appropriate for groups at a disadvantage, for example, those on a low income. Our Head of Communications, Luke Upton, recently caught up with Helen Crockford, the Library’s Director, who has been with the organisation since 2012, and before that used it with her own young family. So, let's find out more!
Luke Upton (LU): Thank you for the time today, we love your social media, so it's great to catch up. For the uninitiated, what's a toy library?
Helen Crockford (HC): A toy library ( @e17toylibrary ) is just like a book library, but you can come and borrow toys, puzzles, games, dressing up, outdoor play equipment, you name it we have it! It's all low cost - supporting people and the planet. The toy industry is incredibly wasteful, so we encourage families to borrow, reduce, reuse, and recycle.
LU: Brilliant Helen, but the library is only part of your offering, what else do you do for your community?
HC: We are definitely much more than a toy library! We run daily play sessions for the under 5’s, have a dedicated sensory playroom for babies and children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Plus there’s a little free library where families can take books. If they love the book, we say they can keep it, or pass it on to a friend or put it in one of the little free libraries around the borough for others to enjoy. There’s a clothes swap for families to donate and take what they need. We provide parenting support on a variety of issues and hire out our venue to other community groups and businesses whose mission aligns with our own and we run birthday parties at the weekend. Finally we also run community events, such as storytelling, film nights and pop ups with crafts, toys and games.
LU: Amazing, if could you tell us a little more about the community that you do serve?
HC: We operate in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. We were set up 48 years ago by a group of health visitors who were concerned that some children in the community didn't have access to toys or quality play experiences. Over the years we have grown and now run two sites - one in Walthamstow and one in Leytonstone. Across both sites we have 2000 families registered to use our services. Our borough is incredibly diverse. We provide safe, welcoming, and creative spaces for all families. For low-income families we provide free membership and reduced session and toy loan fees. Our borough is a Borough of Sanctuary - we provide free membership, play sessions and toy loaning to all families who have no recourse to public funds.
LU: With all this going on, what is your current fundraising focus?
HC: We are raising funds to renovate our new home. Our current building has been sold to developers. We are moving at the end of September into a fabulous space called the William Morris Hall. We have a ten-year lease and our landlord is Barnardos - so a great fit for both of us. The building has been empty for several years and is in desperate need of repair. As well as general maintenance, we need to get the sensory room reinstalled, the garden needs loads of work and there are lots of little rooms which we will use as for the toy library, so we need to invest in shelving and storage.
LU: How has Localgiving helped support your aims?
HC: We have been Localgiving members for five years now and as well as using it for online fundraising, in each year we’ve received a Magic Little Grant from you and People’s Postcode Lottery. And this money has been invaluable to us! This year's grant has provided music training for the staff team, so that we can ensure families are getting the best musical experience during our play sessions and ideas that they can take away and use at home. During lockdown when we were not able to operate and generate an income several volunteers supported us with fundraising activities. Alex skipped for 100 minutes, Natalie read 100 books to her young children over a weekend and Kathryn asked for donations instead of birthday presents. This unrestricted income really helps us when we need it most, for the projects that matter to us, so a big thank you for the support!
LU: Aside from a huge increase in donations, what would most help support you?
HC: We are always looking for volunteers to help us sort and clean toys and keep the toy library organised and well stocked. We also welcome new toy, book and equipment donations. Get in touch if you have an idea for support. Thank you!