07/04/04 - Sedbergh's got a new toy library

On Thursday 15thApril at The Peoples Hall in Sedbergh at 3.00pm, County Councillor Joan Stocker who has responsibility for Education will officially launch the new toy library for Sedbergh.  The library is the first toy library in South Lakeland and the newest one in Cumbria. It is expected that Cllr Stocker will meet some of the pupils from Settlebeck Secondary School who will be involved in the project in the near future.

The project has been funded by Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust, Cumbria Sure Start, the Countryside Agency, Co-op, Neighbourhood Forum, Sedbergh United Charities, and British Telecom have provided the computer.  The Library will be available for children up to 5 years, but it is planned to expand the equipment for children up to 12 years of age.  

County Councillor Joan Stocker is delighted to be launching this project.  She says 

“The new toy library will provide an exciting range of good quality toys for children under 5 in this area.  We have a strong commitment to the services that we provide to the under fives.   Promoting learning does not just cover school age children, pre-school education is just as important for children setting the pattern for learning in later years.  This wonderful project will enable young children in this community to interact with others, learn and develop and have fun at the same time.”

Hazel Vincent, Cumbria Sure Start Development Worker for South Lakeland says,  

“The toy library in Sedbergh is a great and welcomed resource for pre-school age children in the area.  Its development has been very much community led.  Our thanks go out to the pupils of Sedbergh School who helped in the cataloguing and preparing of the toys and to all the organisations who have supported the project with financial and in-kind contributions.“  

Frances Roberts, Chair of Sedbergh Toy Library says,

“The Sedbergh Early Years Committee (SEYC) is a group that endeavour to improve facilities for children under sixteen.  Last year the committee returned to the groups that it represented in order to establish the main needs in the town.

“The three main ideas from parents of children under five were, a baby-sitting circle, music making and a toy library.  The Toy Library was the most popular choice and has backing from all the groups the (SEYC) represents.  Local therapists and health visitors also supported the idea of a toy library, as it is an opportunity to provide toys for children with special needs.  These types of toys are generally very expensive and it is not always possible for families to buy them.

“The toy library aims to provide toys for children from birth to twelve years in Sedbergh and surrounding area, as there are no other toy libraries nearby. A petition was carried out last year in order to gauge how many families would use the toy library and the areas they would come from I am pleased to say that although we have only just opened we have 40 members.

“After a year of planning we are very pleased to see our toy library open and look forward to extending the facility to the older children in the near future.  We would like to thank everyone that has supported us.  We are pleased to see so many parents, children and local children’s groups enjoying the facilities.”