St Luke’s, Holbeck has just opened a toy library which is proving to be more than the sum of its parts.
Every Tuesday morning during their regular ‘Tots, Tea and Toast’ sessions, parents and children can borrow toys which they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford - or have the space for.
Abbie, one of the organisers, says, “It’s just like a book library really. You can browse our selection of toys, try them out during the play session and then borrow them and bring them back the following week. And an added attraction is that you can do it while socialising with other grown ups!
"A few attendees at our Tuesday playgroup mentioned they’d love some sort of facility where they could borrow toys then hand them back when their child became bored of them, or try toys out before investing in them. 
So the library will enable all that but will also try and bring families together – we’ve many games which are educational as well as bonding for a family to play together – such as flash cards and pairs games.
“It’s also an opportunity for parents & guardians to meet other adults and for their children to socialise. And I hope it provides a 'safe' opportunity for people to come into church who might not otherwise, and from there it may encourage them to attend the church in some way, whether that's one of our Alpha Courses, children's services or the main 10.30 service itself.
“The response has been very positive, during our open day we had a record attendance at the linked baby group and we also had three large donations on the day from people who don't usually come to church".
The Toy Library runs alongside St Luke’s Tuesday play group, 9.30-11.15am (during term time).
The group can be contacted via Facebook: www.facebook.com/stlukestoylibrary/