New Stratford toy library seeks more toy donations
Stratford tamariki will have plenty of playthings to choose from with the launch of a new toy library.
Becca Hardwick-Smith says she and her friends, Anna Arends and Morgan McSweeney, have started the Stratford Toy Library, a not-for-profit venture that will allow families to borrow toys rather than constantly buying them.
Becca says the membership fee will be $60 per family for 12 months, which will go towards running costs.
“We’ve tried to keep it as affordable as possible.”
She says the library is a great initiative.
“It’s a great resource for parents and caregivers to get a variety of toys for their children without the large cost of buying new.”
She says with the Eltham Toy Library closing about three to four years ago, there was a need in the community for something similar.
“Me and my friends were talking about the Eltham Toy Library and how we missed that service. We thought, ‘If we’ve been missing it, others surely do as well’. So a few months ago, we approached the former Eltham Toy Library volunteers with our idea to open a new toy library. They were very supportive of the idea.”
She says the volunteers then donated toys from the Eltham Toy Library that had been in storage to help start up the new Stratford Toy Library.
“There are so many great toys in there. We’ve cleaned them and put them into our online catalogue to keep track of what we have. This gives us a good starting point. However, we do need more toys.”
Becca says they are appealing for people to consider donating toys their children no longer play with, or have outgrown, to help build the toy library’s stock ahead of its opening.
“We’re looking for good-quality preloved toys to add to our catalogue. With the interest we’ve had, we want to make sure we have plenty of toys to choose from.”