THE THIRD DECADE

As the third decade dawned for Toyhouse a Service Level Agreement with Tower Hamlets was negotiated and this offers a degree of security and continuity both to Toyhouse, our centrally operated projects, and to well over 60 Toy Libraries who are our members.  The SLA includes key aspects of bilingual and multi cultural support work in both Bengali / Sylhetti and Somali as well as supporting play between children and their parents together through Toy Libraries and Soft Play services.

The peripatetic work developed in the second decade was superseded by Surestart funded work to support the play and learning of young children by means of extending existing Toy Library provision and the development of family support.  This enabled us to return to the original Toyhouse activity of taking the Toy Library out to the homes of identified local families in need with the provision of a befriending service.  In 2002 Toyhouse launched the first Baby Clinic Play & Information session and, so well was it received that the idea took root & there are now 12 operating within the Borough.  With the development of SureStart Children’s Centres covering the whole of the Borough, our member groups now numbers 90 and our service delivery has widened.

Other new developments saw the establishment of two new Soft Play services.  The first, Teenage Parents Soft Play, gives young parents the opportunity to have physical play together with their young child within a supportive environment specifically geared to their needs.  The second is the Family Play Project, funded by The Children’s Fund, which provides a Saturday morning play environment for primary aged children with special needs, their siblings, parents and carers.  For each of these there are both English, Sylhetti & Somali speaking facilitators as well as access to a taxi service to aid access.  In 2003 we launched the Mobile + Service which visits families with a primary aged child with additional needs, on Saturday in their own home

In the latter part of the third decade there are many changes within the Voluntary Sector which are affecting Toyhouse, its users and its service delivery.  The process of tendering to deliver services and taking up commissioned work from the Local Authority is an increasing reality.  However, in 2006, thanks to sterling work by our Chairperson, Toyhouse raised the money to fit out its own building, The Toyhouse Centre, which not only provides a fully accessible office and meeting base but, for the first time in Toyhouse history, provides community space in which we can develop and provide high quality services.  We have plans for new areas of service provision and hope to make The Toyhouse Centre a centre of excellence!

Our commitment to quality is central, as is our listening to and observing children in a play environment.  We are committed to the employment, volunteering and capacity building of local people, particularly parents.  It continues to be our aim to develop services that are relevant to, and accessible by, local people and which meet the needs of young children and parents together.