Bolton Toy Library given Equilibrium Foundation Grant Award

The charity works to improve the life chances of  children, young people, and vulnerable adults by providing therapeutic play.

It is one of six organisations to be awarded the Equilibrium Foundation Grant Awards.

The awards provide annual funding to smaller, lesser-known charities in the North West of England.

Introduced by The Equilibrium Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Cheshire-based Equilibrium Financial Planning, the awards centre around a different theme each year.

With 34 per cent of children in the North West living in poverty, an increase of five per cent since 2015, and the cost-of-living crisis worsening the situation for many, the inaugural awards invited applications from not-for-profit organisations working to alleviate child poverty in the region.

Bolton Toy Library will use the grant to appoint a diversity support worker who will focus on assisting non-native English-speaking families out of poverty.

It will also be used for various other things too.

Anita Ball, Project Coordinator at Bolton Toy Library said: “We are going to increase some of our early years workers hours, so that will be extending provisions to give more families more help and some of it will go on actual running costs towards the costs of the organisation and we will also be buying some new specialised resources for children with disabilities, it is just going to be excellent.”

Toy bank distribution where the charity delivers 400 toys to vulnerable children and their families (Image: Bolton Toy Library)Anita said herself and other members of the team at the charity are ‘delighted’ they received the grant.

She said: “We have been awarded a grant from Equilibrium and it is absolutely fantastic.

“We are so delighted because I realise that they are so hard to come by because the demand is so high, so we are very fortunate.

“It will have a huge positive impact on our young children, babies, and families across Bolton some with disabilities and some with special needs, some with emotional challenges and this will help.

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“We also support a lot of children from diverse communities, so we have got a real mix of people.

“The grant is just absolutely amazing, and we are absolutely widely grateful to them, it is just fantastic.”

Bolton Toy Library is a registered charity established in 1981 to support disadvantaged children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Over the years the charity has grown into a well-established community asset, trusted by families and practitioners alike.

Sarah Warburton, Chairperson of the Equilibrium Foundation, said: “We created the Equilibrium Foundation Grant Awards to show our appreciation for the local charities that provide vital support to those who need it most, and it was incredible to receive such a high volume of applications in our first year.

Families and children accessing services at Bolton Toy Library (Image: Bolton Toy Library)“Although our judging panel had an extremely difficult job in selecting just six organisations, we take immense pride in announcing this year’s winners, each of whom makes an outstanding contribution to tackling issues affecting children and young people in the local community.

“We look forward to following their journey as they implement new programmes and resources, and we can’t wait to see the difference the money will make in shaping the lives of those in the region.”

Since its formation in 2010, The Equilibrium Foundation has given almost £1m to good causes, with an aim to raise £4m by 2028.

For more information about Bolton Toy Library, go to: https://boltontoylibrary.org/

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno.