June Newsletter 2024
Funding Update
Since March we have been very lucky to receive funding from:
Sean Farrell
The Hadrian Trust
The William Leech Charity
A big thank you to our generous funders.
As the Project does not charge for activities and group sessions, and subsidises the loan of baby equipment and the Toy Library, we constantly need to raise funds to keep our much loved (and needed) project going.
If you could help in any way – maybe a cake stall or tombola at your local fair or workplace – please get in touch and we can provide our leaflets for you to give out as information on the Baby Equipment Loan Service and Toy Library.
Many thanks.
National Play Day
On Wednesday 7th August it's National Play Day. It is a campaign held to celebrate the importance of Play in children's lives.
The theme for this years Playday is...
Playing on a shoestring - making every day an adventure.
This focuses on the everyday low-cost or no-cost adventures that children can enjoy at home, in settings and in our communities.
We are looking to celebrate this very important day and will let you know more information in the very near future via social media and also when we see you in the project.
Home Schooling
We understand that more and more families are choosing to home school their children. The toy library is a fantastic resource for borrowing our huge range of toys, games and puzzles. We stock popular brands such as Learning Resources, Melissa and Doug, Galt. Orchard Toys, Leap Frog, and Lego to name a few. We are always looking to improve the services that we offer, so if you home school, or know a family (residing in North Tyneside who home schools) we would love to hear from you to get some fresh ideas on how we can best support and grow in this area.
Volunteers Week June 2024
We would like to say a big thankyou to all our volunteers. They dedicate their time and support to help us grow. Their commitment and contribution as a volunteer really makes a big difference to Baby Equipment Loan Service and Toy Library.
New Trustee
We would like to introduce our newest trustee to you all Charlotte Kennedy. Charlotte joined the management committee of BELS & TL in April 2023 as an adviser. She is a primary school teacher and mother of 2 young daughters. Charlotte says 'The BELS & TL has been such a blessing to our family and my girls have experienced so much joy from the toy library. I am passionate about supporting the project and giving something back. I have recently commenced the role of Safeguarding lead within the project.'
We are delighted that Charlotte has chosen to take the next step becoming a Trustee, she brings fresh ideas, different perspective, and loads of enthusiasm.
We are proud that, as a small charity, we have a diverse Charity Board.
Child Safety Week
We are very passionate about child safety. We use the very helpful resources from Child Accident Prevention Trust to give out information to our families. We set up a table with leaflets and various information around child safety. We enjoyed listening to families talk with their children about the various ways on keeping children safe. We posted daily on our social media pages around various child safety preventative measures these included: cleaning products, blind cord safety, hot drinks safety, button batteries, choking, poisoning, burns and scalds, drowning and falls. If you need any information please don't hesitate to ask us when in the project. We do find Child Accident Prevention Trust social media pages a fantastic resource alongside their website capt.org.uk
Karbon Tenants
If you are a Karbon Tenant living in North Tyneside or you know a Karbon Tenant family we can possibly help with baby/safety equipment. Please get in touch for more details.
Gift Memberships
Need ideas for a children's birthday party gift...a baby shower gift...new baby born gift....just something a bit different? Why not buy an amazing value for money Toy Library Gift Membership? One off payment of £7 for a 2 toy membership. Get in touch and we can get it all sorted out for you.