Lottery cash keeps Bolton Toy Library in operation for three more years IT is every child's dream to be in a room filled with hundreds of toys.

And that dream can become reality with a visit to the recently re-homed Bolton Toy Library.

Now in comfortable, bright premises in Board Street, Deane, the library is looking forward to welcoming more children than ever before. Thanks to a recently secured Lottery grant of almost £129,000 the library is safe for another three years.

Project co-ordinators Kathryn Higson and Anita Ball are now looking for an ethnic minorities support worker to help with languages.

After two years spent planning the move, Kathryn and Anita can get on with the task of providing a superb service to the many families, children's groups and childcare workers who find the library invaluable.

For just £2 a year, and a 50 pence per week rental fee, children can borrow toys ranging from jigsaws to play kitchens, or they can spend a morning playing with the toys on site while their mums relax and chat.

The library has toys suitable for children with special needs, multi-cultural dolls and a ball pool where little ones can kick off their shoes and let off some steam.

The new premises, an airy portable building, are a far cry from the old place in Devonshire Road, which comprised a single room.

Kathryn said: "It's lovely to be here. We have so much more room. It's ideal."

The library was officially re-opened with a visit from the Mayor of Bolton, Councillor Kevan Helsby.

Kathryn and Anita have many different jobs, including playing, fund-raising and masses of administration.

They insist the library should be available to everyone, not just disadvantaged children, and they have visitors from other boroughs who come to borrow toys.

Grandparents are regular visitors, as are playgroup co-ordinators and health workers, who find some of the special needs toys of great use in their work, including a speech therapy puppet which would cost £80 to buy.

The library helps to bring mothers and carers into contact with each other in a relaxed environment.

Anita said: "If there is a mother who has just moved into the area with her husband and doesn't know anyone, she can make friends by coming to the library."

It is also, claims Kathryn, the perfect way to find out which toys appeal to children most, which could save huge amounts of money.

"We get mums coming in and trying out toys they might want to get their children for Christmas," she said.

"If they like the toy then they can then buy it. If they don't, they haven't wasted their money."

It is also an opportunity for little boys to play with toys their dads might not approve of.

"We get mums letting their boys play with kitchens and hoovers, because their husbands won't let them buy things like that," said Kathryn.

And the great news is that the children happily hand the toys back after a week without any problems.

Kathryn says: "They understand that the toys have to come back, but they can get another one."

Bolton Toy Library is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. To find out more, ring 559566. ALL SMILES: Sarah Atkinson, aged 20 months, has fun at the toy library. HAPPY FAMILY: Mum Rozina Abdulla and her son, Raqeeb, aged two, enjoy playing together. SHARING TOYS: It is fun to share as two-year-olds Raqeeb Abdulla, left, and Aaron Harker prove. GREAT FUN: Enjoying himself at the toy library is two-year-old Aaron Harker.