The Yews Community Centre’s toy scheme helps parents cut plastic waste

The toy library at The Yews Community Centre, run by the centre’s parent and toddler group, loans toys and games from its extensive collection of more than 1,000 items to parents and carers.

The drop-in sessions are held between 1:30pm and 4pm every Monday excluding bank holidays and the school summer holidays.

Visitors are able to peruse the toys and games, try them out and then borrow one or two to play with at home.

If they love the items they have borrowed, they can renew for a while longer and when they yearn for something new, they can exchange for something else the following week.

A regular borrower for her son, said: “Apart from a few favourites that we had already purchased, my son can lose interest in toys he’s only played with for a few weeks.

“It’s a pain having to store them in case he changes his mind or move them on via charity shops or selling sites.”

By using the toy library children can move from one item to the next.

A volunteer for the group, Karen Townsend, said: “The consequences of so many plastic purchases for the next generation is frightening.

“The toy library is one small way that we can make a difference.”

Photographer and mother-of-two Louise Ferguson was so impressed by the idea of the toy library that she brought her camera to a recent session to record what they do.

Louise said: “I wanted to help the toy library to tell the people of Haywards Heath about this brilliant way of avoiding buying yet another piece of plastic for their children.”

The Yews Community Centre is a spacious area used by many different organisations and individuals.

For more information on the toy library, visit www.theyewscentre.org.uk

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