Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre

October 13 Newsletter

Your toy library needs you!
Would you like to have a say about how the toy library is run? Bursting with bright fundraising ideas? Want to give something back to your local community?

Well, it’s that time of year when the toy library is looking for new management committee members. To be precise we’re looking for a secretary (who sorts out the meetings), possibly a vice-chair (to share the chair’s load), communications and website whizzes, a gardener (to keep our lovely new outdoor area spruced up) and as many fundraisers as we can get to organise brilliant events, from parties to the May Fair, and any other ideas you may have! 

If you’d like to know more, or to put yourself forward for the committee, email either the manager Helen Crockford e17toylibrarymanager@gmail.com, or the chair at at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.com, or come along to the AGM, or both!

Talking of which, the AGM is on 22 October, at 10.30am, during a play session. Please come – not only is it your chance to see what the staff and committee have been up to this year, how the toy library’s finances are doing, and how you can get involved to keep the vital work going, it also needs 5% of our members to be there for the meeting to be valid. As we’ve now got over 600 members, we need at least 30 of you! There’ll be cake! And it will be free entry!

Take it outside
Thanks to all those who came to our outdoor open day on 28 September. A good time was had by all, who seemed to love the new play house, five raised beds (currently being filled and planted with anything from flowers to herbs), great new sandpit and outdoor music station, all set off perfectly by jazzy new blue back wall. Thanks to Helen for raising the money via an exhausting triathlon, and to volunteers for spending a Sunday sawing, painting and hefting to complete the project. Also thanks to Petals in Bloom for donating plants, B&Q on the Lea Bridge Road for donating compost, and Waltons (www.waltons.co.uk) for giving us a discount on the play house.

Hassle-free ways to help
The toy library is always looking for extra funds. Three easy ways to help are:

1 Do all your online shopping via easyfundraising.co.uk. Select the toy library as your chosen charity, and every time you buy something at Amazon, Sainsbury’s, Net-A-Porter (!) or, indeed, anywhere the toy library gets a contribution.

2 Bring in your empty printer cartridges for recycling.

3 Ditto old mobile phones!

4 Get your Christmas craft materials from Yellow Moon – we have their catalogues at the toy library. Order online using our source code SWA10850 and they will give a 20% donation to our cause. Go through easyfundraising, we will get even more!

Every little helps
In other fundraising news, thanks to those generous token-poppers in South Woodford, Waitrose’s Community Matters in July scheme netted the Toy Library £225!

Rent-a-puzzle
Nights drawing in? Need something to keep the kids occupied before tea? What you need are jigsaws. For £1 a time, you can hire a puzzle from the toy library, then bring it back once they tire of its charms. Then, of course, hire another one!

What do we want?
To make sure we keep offering what our members want, each year we carry out a survey. Play workers will be handing them around at sessions. Please fill them in – it really helps us to know what you’re all thinking. We’ve made it super-streamlined this year, so it won’t take a moment!

Wooooohhhh
Bring your fancy dress cats, bats (and even scaredy-cats) for some fearsome fun, ghoulish games and scary silliness at our Halloween party on 31 October, from 3 til 5. Games, crafts, music and food for the kiddies; cakes to tempt the grown-ups! £5 per child, £8 for two, or £10 for three.

 

July 2013 newsletter

 Lots of news this month, from summer hours to fundraising ideas, so get a cup of tea and settle in for a good read!

Medal-winning…
It’s now official – the toy library is brilliant! Parenting website NetMums has awarded us a gold star rating, as the best toddler group in Waltham Forest.  Thanks are due to our great staff team, enthusiastic volunteers and loyal members for making it such a special place.

Record-breaking…
Thank you all so much for your help with the May Fair 2013, from donating raffle prizes, baking cakes, or just coming along and hooking ducks. It was our best year yet, raising nearly £3,000! We couldn’t have done it without you! The money will go towards running the toy library, and making it even bigger and better.

Triathalon running…
Helen Crockford, the toy library’s tireless manager, completed the Blenheim Triathlon in June, raising a total of £600 for the play centre. Huge thanks to anyone who sponsored her! The proceeds will go towards renovating the garden, with raised beds, a playhouse, or two, and new equipment. A group of young people from the Challenge Network is coming in on Sunday 8 Sept at 11am to help, so please come along too!

Summer loving...
We will be closing on Monday 29th July for two weeks, reopening on 12th August.  To keep you entertained, Church Hill, Barclay and Woodside Children’s Centres will all be open.

Then when we re-open, we will be starting a new rolling programme of activities for under-5s and babies, so everyone will get a chance to take part in all our activities: physical play, messy play, story telling, cooking, music and movement, and coffee afternoons. Pick up a copy of the programme from the front desk.

And if the weather keeps it up, come and enjoy the new gigantic paddling pool – remember your swimmers and towels!

Supermarket sweep
If you needed any more excuses to shop at Waitrose, the South Woodford branch has chosen the toy library as one of its community matters charities for July. So come on now, spend lots of money, then pop all your green tokens in our box!

In another fundraising idea, bring in your old mobile phones or printer cartridges you’ve lying round at home. When we get 50 we can send them off and get dosh!

Ticket to, er, park
Rather annoyingly, parking restrictions are being introduced to all the streets surrounding the toy library. If you need to bring your car, we will have parking permits available to buy. Best to do so in advance, however!

Free memberships
Thanks to funding from Waltham Forest Council and Awards for All, we can now offer free membership for families from Black British, African, Caribbean and Pakistani backgrounds. The first play session is free, then families receiving benefits pay a reduced entrance fee. Please bring along proof when signing up. You can also loan from our huge range of toys, puzzles, equipment and books free of charge, for up to three weeks.

We will be running a series of workshops to link in with our project:

21 August 2013 10am–12pm Carnival Time art and craft with Scribble
and Smudge
31 October 2013 10am–12pm Fun with Food with Regina Sabur-Cross
18 February 2014 10am–12pm African Drumming with Karamoko
11 April 2014 10am–12pm Asian Dance and Vocals with Khyal Arts

Any bright ideas?
TL member Sue Dyson has volunteered to compile a book of things to do, locally and further afield.  If you have any suggestions please email suedyson@hotmail.com with location and activities available, transport and travel, costs, toilet facilities, refreshments or picnic area, and any other useful info. 

Are you handy?
Or do you know a man who is? We need someone to come and help us fix our broken toys. Payment in biscuits and eternal gratitude.

And, breathe…
Baby yoga courses start again in September, run by Sam Syer, while antenatal yoga with Sam Wood start again this month, on Monday nights, 7 til 8pm. There won’t be any classes in August. For more information contact (sam@gentleflowyoga.co.uk, or 07733 330171.

Second time around…
Waltham Forest NCT is hosting a second-time parents group at the toy library on 19 July and 20 September, 12.45 to 2.15. Third-, fourth- and fifth-timers all welcome too. For more information email walthamforestbranch@nct.org.uk, follow them on facebook or join the yahoo group to connect with other parents for tips and advice. 

Date for the diary
ELOP holistic lesbian and gay centre will be running a mini-fete and doing a sponsored walk on 7 Sept at the toy library, 10am to 1.30pm. Do come along and support them!

 

 

 

 

April newsletter

May Fair

Our famous May Fair is happening again this year on Sunday 12 May.  Every penny we raise helps to keep the Toy Library open, and we need our members' help to make sure it is as big a success as last year.

Could you...

Volunteer on the day? Spare a few hours to help sell books, hook a duck, or help with the tombola? Any amount of time gratefully received, from one to five hours.

Bake a cake? Big cakes, little cakes, tray bakes, cup cakes... Make us something lovely to sell at the fair. Last year the cake stall made over £300!

Donate a tombola prize? Booze, food, unwanted gifts, toys… all gratefully received. Pop them into the toy library before 12 May.

Give us your unwanted clothes, books, CDs and DVDs  – as well as plants – for our various fundraising stalls?

Or just

Display a May Fair poster in your window (we can email you a PDF)? or send it to all your friends? 

If you'd like to get involved, please call 020 8509 3401 or email us at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.org

Raffle

I think this year could have the best May Fair raffle EVER. For a mere £1 a strip, or £5 for six strips, you could win:

• Pair of tickets to see hit musical STOMP!
  
  
• Signed England football shirt (World Cup qualifier matches against San Marino and Montenegro)
  
  
• Riverford Organic fruit and vegetable box
  
  
• Handbag from Warehouse worth £30
  
  
• Sorting Shapes Cupcakes (£13.95 – Edufantastic)
  
  
• Nature’s own Jungle- Musical Giraffe Quartet (£15.99 – Edufantastic)
  
  
• £10 Gift voucher from Petals in Bloom
  
  
• Free kids’ hair cut from Desire Hair and Beauty
  
  
• £10 gift voucher from Penny Fielding
  
  
• Two Delta Force paintball tickets – for up to 10 people
  
  
• Home furnishing product by Etoile

Either buy some at the toy library, or remember your pound coins to buy on the door of the May Fair!

 

New baby session!
Giggles and Gurgles – for babies under-18 months – is going to start on  Wednesday afternoons, 1.30 to 3.30, from 15 May. We’re glad to welcome aboard our new playworker Carol Slaney to run this session – she’s not only very experienced, she’s also a toy library member!

This session is supported through the Community First Neighbourhood Match Fund programme, administered by CDF for the Office for Civil Society.

Tapping of tiny feet
A new music class is coming to the Toy Library: Atty's Musical Steps, educational and inspiring music classes for babies and toddlers. They will be held on Friday afternoons, with the first session starts on 10 May. Costs £4. Contact Atty on 07950 526662 or email atty.cronin@musicalsteps.co.uk to book your place. 

Food revolution
At the morning session on 17 May, as part of her bid to help us all embrace healthy food, Rejina Sabur is going to be coming in to make sushi with the children. Ingredients included!

Yoga
Don’t forget our yoga classes. Sam Syer runs parent and baby yoga classes on Mondays 1 to 2pm (07783 658883), while Sam Wood runs ante natal yoga classes on Monday evenings 7 to 8pm (07733 330171).

Bank holiday
We will be closed on Monday 6 May.

 

March 2013 newsletter

We’ve got so much going on – from a busy Easter schedule, to all sorts of fund-raising events, not to mention new classes and sessions – that our newsletter is full to bursting.

Easter egg-citement!
Don those bonnets – the toy library has a fun-packed Easter line-up to keep your little bunnies entertained. Any special sessions – of music, acting and all sorts – will have a fee, and may well sell out! Advanced booking is advised…

If you have visitors over Easter, bring them along. Non-members pay £4 for normal sessions, or £6.50 per child for specialist sessions.

Tuesday 2 April 10-12   
Acting Bugs
Fun drama session with Sam from the CBeebies series Me Too!  (For more on Sam, see below*). £4 per child

Tuesday 2 Apri 1.30 –3.30pm
Baby Sensory
Stimulating activities with Madeleine, for under 18 months.  £4.50 per child

Wednesday 3 April  10 -12
Easter egg hunt
How many eggs can you find?  Usual TL fee

Thursday 4 April 10 -12
Chocolate nests
Make a scrummy chocolate nest. Usual TL fee

Friday 5 April 10-12
Pirate Day
Dress up as a pirate and find the hidden treasure. Usual TL fee

Saturday 6 April 10 -12      
Baby Band and Toddler Troup
Exciting new music session with Antonia. £4 per child

Monday 8 April 10 -12       
The Gingerbread Man
Activities based around the classic tale. Usual TL fee

Tuesday 9 April 10 -12       
Seriously messy play
Bring spare clothes!  Usual TL fee

Tuesday 9 April 1.30 –3.30pm 
Yoga with Sam Syer
Relaxing session for parents and carers with Under 18 months-olds with the lovely Sam!   £4 per child.

Wednesday 10 April 10 -12       
Easter bunnies
What have those little bunnies been up to? Usual TL fee

Thursday 11 April 10 -12       
Sing-along with Harriette and Ted
Back by popular demand. Don’t miss out!  £4.50 per child

Friday 12 April 10 -12
Planting
Great ready for spring. Usual TL fee

Saturday 13 April 10 -12
Play session
Saturday fun at the Toy Library. Usual TL fee

* Sam Seager is a mum of two and actress of 22 years (you may know her as Bobby the Bus Cleaner  from the Cbeebies series Me Too!) Her Acting Bugs classes introduce pre-school children to the world of drama in a fun, playful and imaginative way through story telling, improvisation, movement, music, props and puppets. Recent stories have been the Pirate Princess and the Magic Silver Telescope, Marvin the Monkey Visits the Moon and the Missing Musical Sea Shell. To find out more, phone Sam on 07903 459497 or email www.actingbugs100@gmail.com for more info!

It Asda be good news…
Thank you all! With all those green tokens going in the right hopper, the Toy Library was the favourite charity at Asda Selbourne Walk, and we’ve won £100! Asda’s coming to the TL on 20 March to hand over the cheque, if anyone wants to come along.

Park life
Lovers of Wingfield Park – come down on Saturday 23 March, 10 til 12, to see the creation of a spray-painted insect garden mural by Walthamstow’s very own professional graffiti artist, Gnasher. There’ll also be a bug treasure hunt, a ‘smelly shrub’ planting session, and, naturally, cake.

Table top sell and swap
Fans of the Facebook group Walthamstow Sell and Swap will already know of local mums’ endless capacity for nabbing a bargain. Now, all the borough’s selling and swapping can take place in one spot - the Toy Library, on 21 April. As it’s to raise funds we’ll be charging £1 for entry, and providing cakes for sale – as well as, of course, the opportunity of the year to grab some serious bargains.

May Fair
Our famous May Fair is happening again this year on Sunday 12 May – and we need your help to make sure it is as big a success as last year

Can you help? Have a look at the list below of all the ways you can get involved, then email or call us. Remember – the TL gets no funding, and relies on raising money to keep going.

• Design our marketing materials
  Are you an artist or graphic designer? Could you help us design a May Fair poster and flyer to promote the event?
• Donate your front garden
  A local estate agent gives us £10 for every board erected and it is free advertising for the May Fair. No brainer!
  
• Bake a cake
  Big cakes, little cakes, tray bakes, cup cakes. Bake us something lovely to sell at the fair. Last year the cake stall raised about £400!
  
• Paint some little faces
  Are you fantastic at face painting? Could you spare us a few hours of your time and make lots of children happy?
  
• Donate a raffle prize
  Do you work in retail or PR? Could you blag us a great prize for the raffle?
  
• Give us your unwanted clothes, books, CDs and DVDs
  We need good-quality second hand products for the stalls and tombola.
  
• Volunteer on the day
  Could you spare a few hours to help sell books, hook a duck, or help with the tombola?
  
• Distribute May Fair flyers to your local school or nursery
  Or just
  
• Display a May Fair poster in your window. 

If you'd like to get involved, please call 020 8509 3401 or email us at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.org.

New music class
Starting in the summer term on Friday afternoons will be Atty’s Musical Steps, educational and inspiring music classes for babies and toddlers.

Designed to develop children’s communication, language, listening skills, creativity and co-operation, the classes help each child learn at a speed that is right for them, and give parents some great ideas for songs, rhymes and activities to try at home.

Come to the taster session on Saturday 6 April!

Pregnancy yoga
The lovely Samantha Wood (a British Wheel of Yoga teacher) is starting a new four-week pregnancy yoga course at the toy library on Monday nights, 7 to 8pm, starting on 8 April 2013.

Her gentle approach is suitable from 15 weeks pregnant onwards, with poses specifically modified to pregnancy, breathing techniques that are useful throughout your pregnancy and labour, pelvic floor exercises, guided meditation and relaxation. Taught in small groups of up to 10 in calm, quiet environment.

£36 for four-week course, £10 drop-in (if spaces available)

Contact: sam@gentleflowyoga.co.uk or 07733 330171

Have you got old news for us?
We need newspapers for art and craft activities. Bring them to us rather than putting them in the recycling!

New playworker
Would you like to be a playworker, or know someone who would? We need someone to run our new baby session on Wednesday afternoons (starting soon). You will be working in close contact with volunteers and other team members to plan and deliver play sessions for children under 18 months and their parents/carers.

If you’re interested, email manager@walthamstowtoylibrary.org for a job description and application form.

Lost anything?
If you’re missing a glove, hat, top, umbrella or sundry item we have lots of lost property. Can you come and have a look? Anything unclaimed will be sold at the table top sale.

 

Walthamstow Toy Library
Comely Bank Community Clinic, 46 Ravenswood Road, London E17 9LY. 
Tel: 020 8509 3401
www.walthamstowtoylibrary.org
Email: manager@walthamstowtoylibrary.org

Registered Charity No. 270746

 

February 2013 Newsletter

Come and join us…

Would you like to have a say about how the toy library is run? Are you bursting with bright fundraising ideas? Want to help out your local community? Be part of that famous ‘big society’? Well, we’ve got a couple of vacancies on the management committee.

As a charity, the toy library has to by law have a committee of at least five people, including a chair, secretary and treasurer, along with fundraisers and general bodies to help organise and run events, make cakes and have brilliant suggestions. Come and join us! It involves one meeting per month, in the evening, with whatever additional help you can give.

If you’d like to know more, or to put yourself forward for the committee, email me at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.com.

… or help in other ways

There are lots of other ways to support us. (Sorry if we keep banging on, but the Toy Library receives no regular funding, so relies on fundraising to keep going.)

Three easy options:

* Go to Asda in Selbourne Walk. Vote for us with a green token (you might have to ask for one) and we could win £100. 

* Sign up to the Galaxy hot chocolate fund, and we could win £300!

 * Do all your online shopping through www.easyfundraising.org, and it will donate money to the centre. Select "Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre" as your choice of charity, and your online purchases will raise funds for the toy library, without costing you any extra. You can watch the donations grow each time you log on.

Or, if you’d like to do more:

* Volunteer! We always need more hands to help with fundraising events. Could you sell tickets? Man a stall at the May Fair? Put up posters in your area? Bake some cakes? Let us know at committee@walthamstowlibrary.org if you’d like to lend a hand.

Save the date

Enough of the begging. Here’s something to look forward to: our famous May Fair, on 12 May. We're hoping it will as brilliant as last year, with bouncy castle, retro games, fire engine, barbeque, live music and local craft stalls. Plus, of course, cake. It's a mere 50p to get in, with children free. Come along, and bring your family, friends, and neighbours.

January newsletter

Happy New Year!

As the dust settles after the holiday season, and we survey our dwindled bank balances and expanded middles, the Toy Library is already primed for a new year of fun!

The last few months of 2012 were action packed, with the biggest change our new manager, Helen Crockford – tireless ex-committee chair and more recently TL playworker – who took over from Carla Cornelius in November. I’m sure you’ll join everyone on the committee in thanking Carla for her time steering the Toy Library from strength to strength (and wishing her well in her new job) and welcoming Helen to the post.

We also have a new committee, as of October, with a new chair – Terri Harris, who obviously decided having toddler twins and a bouncy three-year-old just wasn’t enough of a challenge! Our new treasurer is Paul Brown, and secretary Nicky Poulton. Mel Coles-Gubb and Bal Sanghera will be fundraisers, and Sarah Herbert is in charge of the website and newsletters. We’re hoping Jane Griffiths will be our press officer!

We’d also like to welcome back Felastin Warsame as a volunteer – I’m sure many of you will remember her, and her lovely smiling face!

So, what’s coming up? Well…

Half-term

Helen and the team have put together a great programme:

Monday 18 February: seriously messy play – bring old or spare clothes!
Tuesday 19 February, morning: cooking
Tuesday 19 February, afternoon: baby sensory
Wednesday 20 February: Scribble and Smudge - monster ball
Thursday 21 February: Harriet from Sing along Songs (she's apparently amazing!)
Friday 22 February: dinosaur adventure

These special sessions will cost £4 per child, but we have five concessionary places for families on low income. 

(Outside holidays, the first Thursday of month will now be a ‘fun with food’ session.)

Sábado!

The last Saturday of every month is Spanish Saturday. Open to all, the 10-til 12-sessions will see Spanish spoken by all volunteers and lots of members. The first one in 2012 will be on 26 January. 

Yoga

Sam is once again running mother and baby yoga sessions at the Toy Library, on Mondays 1 to 2pm on 7, 14, 21 and 28 January, and 4 and 11 February.

The six-week session costs £48 (though she owes last term’s yogis a free session).

For details, contact Sam on 07783 658 883.

Touchy feely

Do you have any unwanted keys, ceramic tiles, or other suitable objects for heuristic play? If so, could you bring them along to the Toy Library? Such sensory stimulants are great for babies…

Christmas

Thank you to all that came to our three Christmas parties. They all went brilliantly, and we had some lovely feedback. And what’s more, they raised over £400 for the Toy Library. 

And a HUGE THANK YOU to Natural Voices, who raised a massive £380 for us on 9 December at their Xmas concert. Brilliant!

 

 

Your toy library needs you!

Would you like to have a say about how the toy library is run? Are you bursting with bright fundraising ideas? Want to help out your local community? Be part of that famous ‘big society’? Well, it’s that time of year when the toy library is looking for new management committee members!

As it’s a charity, it has to by law have a committee of at least five people, including a chair, secretary and treasurer, along with fundraisers and general bodies to help organise and run events, make cakes and have brilliant suggestions.

If you’d like to know more, or to put yourself forward for the committee, email me at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.com, or come along to the AGM, or both!

The AGM in October (date TBC) will be your chance to see what the staff and committee have been up to this year, how the toy library’s finances are doing, and how you can get involved to keep the vital work going. For the meeting to be valid, we need 10% of our membership – which is now over 400 – to be there, so please come if you can.

The meeting will be held during a morning session, at 10.30 am, which that day will be free of charge.

 

July 2012 newsletter

Hello all. To, hopefully, cheer you up in this dreary summer, we've got plenty going on down at the toy library.

Retail therapy
You know those charity hoppers in Waitrose, into which you put your green token? Well, get yourself down to Westfield Stratford, as during July the toy library is one of the supermarket’s three chosen charities. So, once you done your shopping – even if it’s just a sandwich – you know where to put your token! The more tokens we get, the bigger our share of £1,000. Good excuse to go to Westfield, if you ask me…

Olympic open day
Come along to our sport-themed family day on 5 August, and bring your friends! Running 10 til 12, we’ll have games, crafts and general fun, as well as our famous cake stall, plus a few surprises. Entry 50p.

Summer activities
We've got plenty going on to keep your little ones entertained during the summer holidays. Details are to be confirmed, but you can expect:

July 23 to 28 – music week

30 July to 4 August – cookery week

Saturday 5 August – Olympic family fun day

6 to 11 August – environment week

13 to 27 August – CLOSED

28 August to 1 September – storytelling week.

New playworker
Our new playworker Tayaba Hussain has now started, working Tuesday and Friday mornings. If you have yet to meet her, please come and say hello. She’s lovely!

We need a book-keeper
The toy library is looking for a part-time book-keeper, for five hours a month. If you used to be a book-keeper, have a career history of analysing figures, and would like to keep your hand in, this could be just the job! For more details, go to www.walthamstowtoylibrary.org, and go to ‘vacancies’.

You rolled up!
Now the dust has settled, the money counted, and breath caught, it seems that this year’s May Fair – way back when – raised a staggering £2,700! This is nearly twice as much as last year. Thank you so much to everyone that turned, up, ate a cake, bought a book or hooked a duck. And a massive thank you to the remarkable Claire and Helen, who did the lion’s share of the organising and are still recovering.

Any feedback gratefully received (email committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.org), to help make it even better for next year!

 

May newsletter

May Fair
It’s nearly time! Our annual fete this year is on 20 May, 11 til 2, and is shaping up to be the best ever. Come along, bring your kids, family, neighbours and friends, and have some (hopefully) sunny fun! While raising money for the toy library! There’ll be:

• Fancy dress competition – for the children, though feel free to join in!
• A fire engine!
• Face painting and children’s haircuts
• Prizes galore, from tombolas to games to raffles
• Retro races – remember egg and spoon? The sack race?
• Local bands, choirs and singers entertaining you all the while

BUT, we still need more help on the day. Could you lend a hand? Make something for the cake stall (last year it raised £250 alone)? Man a stall for a while? Supervise a race? The more help we have, the more stalls we can run, the more money we can make, and the better the toy library can be. Remember, we get no funding from the council or government.

If that doesn’t persuade you, just think – now’s your chance to serve cake to a fireman!

To volunteer or offer cake, email me at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.org, or claire.forrest@gmail.com.

We’re also still taking donations for the CD and book stall. And don’t forget to buy some raffle tickets!

Saturday morning sessions
After the roaring success of our springtime Saturday openings, we’re going to make them a permanent fixture. We’ll be open every Saturday, except 26 May, until the summer closure in August if you want to join in the fun, or send your partner while you have a lie-in! They run 10 til 12 as usual, involve tea, coffee and hopefully cake, and are for under-5s.
 
We have new playworkers!
Tayaba Hussain will be joining us at the end of May, working with Helen on Tuesday mornings. Paulette Nash, who has been such a wonderful volunteer, will also become a paid play worker, working various sessions. They both have extensive experience with young children, and boundless enthusiasm. Welcome aboard!

However, on a sad note, Priyanka will no longer be volunteering for us. She’s done a great job, and we’d all like to extend our thanks and good wishes to her.

Call for help!
You may have noticed the toy library getting very popular lately. This is of course marvellous, but brings with it additional work to keep it running smoothly – additional work that we don’t have the staff or resources to cover.

Could you lend a hand? Any amount of time you could donate would be gratefully received. Tasks we need help with include:

• Making snacks during play sessions
• A monthly sweep and prune of the garden
• Fundraising help at events
• Cakes. Join our baking brigade, making cakes to sell during sessions or at fundraisers
• Campaigning on our behalf
• Administration – anything from writing and distributing letters or maintaining the email list, to laminating membership cards
• Cleaning and stock-taking toys
• Sourcing funding, and completing grant applications
• Running a special workshop (depending on skills and experience)

If you can help, email me at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.org, or the manager, Carla Cornelius, at manager@walthamstowtoylibrary.org. Thanks in advance!

 Big thank you…
… to Ros Collier for donating a lovely, fully functioning vacuum cleaner to the toy library! It’s made a big difference to the speed and ease of clearing up. Such a luxury to not have to clean glitter from the carpet with a hard brush!

And finally…
Don’t forget to fill in a members’ survey form when you’re next at the toy library. Keeping tabs on what we’re doing right, and wrong, helps us constantly improve our service.

April newsletter

Hello

I hope you're all enjoying the sunny weather, when it's here, and dodging the showers when it's not! Once more, it's all go at the toy library.

Roll up! Roll up! Our famous May Fair (20 May, 11 til 2) is shaping up to be even better than ever, with a fancy dress competition, bouncy castle, retro games, barbeque, live music and local craft stalls. Plus, of course, cake. It's a mere 50p to get in, with children free. Come along, and bring your family, friends, and neighbours.

Before the fair, why not offload unwanted gifts, books, CDs or DVDs for the book stall and tombola. Boxes will be put out at the toy library on 16th April. Or, if you're feeling extra generous, donate a raffle prize!

It's our biggest fund-raiser of the year, and we rely on it being a success. But that means lots of stalls. And lots of stalls need lots of bodies! Could you spare a few hours to help sell books, hook a duck, or help with the tombola? Or make a cake (last year the cake stall alone made £250)? Or generally lend a hand? The organisers are stretched to their elastic limits!

If you'd like to volunteer – or could display a poster in your window – email me at committee@walthamstowtoylibrary.org.

Saturday morning sessions are proving a huge success, so we may well make them a permanent fixture. If you, your partner or mum want to come and join the fun, check out the website for dates we'll be open. Or ask a member of staff during a session. They run 10 til 12 as usual, involve tea, coffee and hopefully cake, and are for under-5s.

Feeling crafty? Thursday 26 April 10am-12pm is your child's chance to paint some pottery, thanks to Creative Biscuits of South Woodford. Each child can choose one of three different pieces to paint and take home after a few days. The workshop will be £3 per child and is strictly limited to 25 children, so put it in the diary now! As places are limited, please book in advance by email to manager@walthamstowtoylibrary.org.

The table top sale on 25 March was a great success, raising £335 of vital funds for the toy library. The cake stall alone made over £100! So, a huge thank you to everyone who bought a stall, came to bag a bargain, or snaffled some cake. And a round of applause for Claire Forrest who organised it, with a little help from her friends. We'll be doing it again, so watch this space!