Lewisham Toy Library History

We started providing services to the Lewisham community in 1972. The  Lewisham Toy Library opened then for one 2-hours slot on Mondays for Lewisham childminders only. We were also serving up to 7 drop-in sessions for childminders in various community and church halls. This session was later also made available for residents.

Later, in 1998 we opened another session for Lewisham residents.

November 2000                opening of a Friday session

March 2001                         opening of Saturday sessions (2-hour sessions, every Saturday)

June 2003                            Opening of Thursday afternoon sessions but changing the Saturday sessions to only one per month (1^st Sat/ month) for 6 hours.

October 2004                     abolishing the Thursday afternoon sessions due to funding cuts.

October 2005                     Opening of a satellite toy library in Deptford until 2008

January 2016                    Move to the Lewisham Shopping Centre,                                                               Opening of the library to adjacent boroughs                                                       following the loss of any funding from the                                                             borough of Lewisham

Our recent history has been characterised by cuts to our funding, and we are now running leaner than ever.