Toy Library for Hele Bay

PROTECT OUR PLAYGROUND TOY LIBRARY LAUNCHES AT HELE 

The bespoke hand-built shed, featuring designs by Ilfracombe Juniors  school children and brought to life by local artist Faye Allison, is the latest toy library to be installed as part of local environmental charity Plastic Free North Devon’s Visitor Campaign.

The aim of the toy libraries is to provide a resource for families to be part of a ‘circular economy’ when it comes to beach toys - rather than families buying buckets, spades, and polystyrene bodyboards for their holidays and them being abandoned on our beaches, sent to landfill, or just  sitting unused at the back of cupboards, families can borrow beach toys for their holiday and then bring them back at the end of their stay, ready for another family to use. 

This latest Toy Library is the third installed with funding from the Welcome Back Fund through North Devon Council benefitting visitors and locals in North Devon beachside locations  to protect our coastline. 

Anne-Marie Eveleigh, Operations Director Plastic Free North Devon, explains how the toy library took shape:

“The Hele Toy Library is another fantastic community effort. Year 5  pupils from Ilfracombe Juniors created the initial designs, local artist Faye Allison brought their designs to life, Ilfracombe Town Council is hosting the shed, and local swim group, Hele Bay Merbabes and the Bay Cafe are acting as its guardians - making sure it is stocked and looked after. “

Neil Ingram, Project Officer, Ilfracombe Town Council & Chair of Hele Community Group

 explains more: 

The setting up of this Toy Shed in Hele is something that we have been working on with Plastic Free North Devon for a while and it’s great to see it finally in place. The local community in Hele are very proud of the area in which they are fortunate enough to live and they are very much in tune with protecting the environment and sharing this message with locals and visitors to the area.

The ability to prevent buckets, spades and other beach toys becoming single use plastic items by making them available for reuse in our own library, preventing them becoming landfill, is a very positive step in the right direction. We hope it's something everyone will use and enjoy."

Anne-Marie Eveleigh, PFND, adds: “With the climate crisis and the rising cost of living at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds right now, we’re really grateful for the opportunity to work with our local communities to make a positive difference where we can, one small step at a time. Our sincerest thanks to all involved, and to North Devon Council who were able to fund the expansion of this project through the Welcome Back Fund.” 

The toy libraries are just one way that Plastic Free North Devon’s Visitor Campaign seeks to harness the collective power of local businesses and community to educate and empower visitors to protect and care for the amazing nature right here on our doorstep. The campaign includes resources and ideas for businesses to use to inspire behavioral change, a newly released  Sustainable Housekeeping Toolkit for cleaners, property managers and business owners, and a discount on the Protect our Playground sustainable wooden bellyboards for all Visitor Campaign sign ups.  Visit  www.plasticfreenorthdevon.org/plastic-free-holidays for more information. 

And if you live further afield and would like to build your own shed, the original design by PFND trustee Andy Clee is available open source here: 

https://plasticfreenorthdevon.org/blog/protect-our-playground-toy-library-launches-in-croyde.