Advocates are calling for Welsh government action to expand toy libraries. Could this initiative help families and benefit the environment?
Toys catch the fancy of kids for a moment but once that charm fades, they end up in a pile. And this pile, ends in waste adds up to the 350 million tons of plastic waste produced annually over the globe. As a father of two kids and dealing with such ‘toy’ behavior every day, motivated Bleddyn Lake to do something.
Toy libraries have been successful worldwide, helping reduce family spending. UK families spend around £430 annually per child on toys, creating financial pressure for many. In addition to cost savings, toy libraries provide environmental benefits by encouraging reuse.
From a personal perspective as a father, Lake understands the need for such services. “Anyone who’s got kids knows that they’ll play with toys for a little bit, then get bored, and then toys get put away and forgotten. Lots of toys nowadays are actually poorly made plastic ones which don’t always last very long anyway,” he says.
Lake, Campaigns and Development Manager at Friends of the Earth Cymru, is on a mission to popularize toy libraries and sees the lack of toy libraries in Wales as an opportunity for action.
“It’s a golden opportunity for the Welsh government to get involved and to bring together those people who currently operate few toy libraries in Wales, but also other organizations and experts in Wales who work with early years, to help work out a plan,” says Lake.
Currently, Cardiff has only one toy library in operation, the Honeycomb Toy Library, located in the Grangetown area. This limited availability reflects the wider situation across Wales, which has only around four or five toy libraries, in stark contrast to England, where over a thousand centres provide affordable access to toys. This highlights the need for government intervention.
Lake says the environmental importance of reuse over constant new purchases, which helps to reduce plastic waste production, is another key argument for promoting such libraries. “About 350 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide each year. If we do nothing, this figure is expected to rise to one billion tons by 2060,” Lake warns.
He further highlights that by 2050, 20% of global oil production could be devoted solely to plastic production, stressing the need for sustainable solutions.
Lake and his team initially reached out to the Welsh government. “We’ve written to them to see what their initial response would be. They were maybe initially not as enthusiastic as we might have hoped,” he says.
However, a petition launched on the Senedd website gained enough signatures for the Senedd petition committee to write to the Welsh government. “The answer came back a little bit more positive than the initial response had been, so they said they might consider it in a future funding application bid,” Lake says.
Cost concerns may deter the government, but Lake argues toy libraries require minimal investment. They typically function on a small budget, making them sustainable and cost-effective for local communities.
“We don’t think this scheme would cost that much. It would work very similar to a book lending library and the toy libraries themselves that we already have. They’re typically held in a community hall that costs little, and families and carers will go there to borrow toys or games for their children,” he explains.
The Welsh government already has a sustainability strategy called “Beyond Recycling,” which promotes recycling, reuse, and a circular economy. Lake views the government’s efforts positively but emphasizes there is room for improvement. “Within that, there’s still more to be done, and we are suggesting toy library as one of the new things that they could add to what they already want to do,” says Lake.
Beyond financial and environmental benefits, toy libraries also provide educational advantages. “Educational toys tend to be more expensive and may be unaffordable for many families, particularly during economic difficulties like the ongoing cost-of-living crisis,” Lake explains.
Toy libraries offer a variety of toys catering to different age groups and developmental stages. “It could range from basic wooden toys for toddlers to outdoor garden equipment for older kids, offering variety that parents otherwise might not afford regularly,” he adds.
Moreover, toy libraries play a vital role in community-building. Lake notes that especially in rural areas, toy libraries provide essential social opportunities, enabling regular interactions between parents and children in a welcoming, supportive community space.
“A toy library in a community center might help new parents, carers, and families meet regularly, perhaps weekly. This builds community networks, as parents facing similar experiences can repeatedly meet and become friends, while their children play together. If the center has a kitchen, parents could even chat over tea and biscuits, creating a nice community opportunity,” Lake says.
A project in Caerphilly called the Toy Box Project offers a useful reference, though it is not a toy library in the traditional sense. “They collect toys and then they distribute them to families who maybe can’t afford to buy toys,” says Lake. “So it’s a slightly different sort of version. It’s not entirely a library as such, but it’s a toy project.”
While the model is not directly the same, Lake believes it provides helpful examples of how toy-related initiatives can work in practice. With support from government, communities, and local businesses, similar projects could help lay the groundwork for a wider toy library network in Wales.
For individuals wanting to support the initiative beyond signing petitions, Lake suggests direct engagement with policymakers. “People could write to the relevant Welsh government minister, who is also the deputy first minister, Huw Irranca-Davies. He is responsible for climate change. People could write to him or write to us and we could forward that to him. We’re hoping that he will agree at least to meeting us to discuss it now. It can take a little bit of time sometimes with government, but we keep our fingers crossed,” he says.