What are the opening hours?

Monday 10am - 1pm Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 4pm

Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre

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Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre

We run play sessions, led by experienced play workers, with plenty of toys and books, and activities such as messy play, music makers and physical fun.

All our sessions include a healthy snack, singing and story-telling time.

05/10/2026

After 15 remarkable years, Helen Crockford has decided to step down as the CEO of Walthamstow Toy Library. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Helen for her outstanding leadership and dedication over the years. Helen has steered this organisation through some of its most challenging and pivotal moments – guiding us through the uncertainty of the pandemic, successfully managing more than one change of premises, and overseeing significant growth in our services and community. Her vision, commitment, and care for our community has left a lasting legacy, and we are deeply grateful for everything she has given to this organisation.

We are now busy looking for her successor. If you, or someone you know, would love the opportunity to lead the Toy Library into its next chapter, please take a look at the CEO Recruitment Pack on our website (www.walthamstowtoylibrary.org). You will find it in the ‘About Us’ section, under Current Job Vacancies.

The deadline for applications is Monday 9th November.

01/10/2026

🍼 Do you need support with feeding your baby?

La Leche League will be joining us at the Toy Library on Monday 5th October, 2–4pm.

Whether you’re breastfeeding, bottle feeding, combination feeding, or simply have questions, come along for friendly, supportive advice.

💛 Ask questions
💛 Get practical support
💛 Chat through any feeding concerns
💛 Meet other parents and carers

No question is too small – pop in and have a chat.

📅 Monday 5th October
⏰ 2–4pm
📍 Walthamstow Toy Library & Play Centre

Please share with any new or expectant parents who might find this useful.

16/09/2026

📚 BOOK DONATIONS WANTED! 📚

We love that your little readers have been busy over the summer… but our bookshelves are looking a little bare! 📖❤️

We’re getting really low on books and would love donations of your children’s pre-loved books so we can give them a new home and another family the chance to enjoy them.

We’re happy to take:
📕 Baby and toddler books
📗 Picture and story books
📘 Early readers and chapter books
📙 Books for older children too!

We run a Little Free Library in Langthorne Park, so books for older children and young people are especially welcome.

♻️ Donating books is a lovely way to pass on stories your children have outgrown, reduce waste and help make reading accessible to more children in our community.

Please only donate books that are in good, clean condition and that you’d be happy to receive yourself.

Donations can be dropped off at Walthamstow or Leytonstone Toy Library during our opening hours.

Thank you for helping us keep East London reading! 📚💚

15/09/2026

🎈 Planning a birthday party? Book it with us! 🎂🎉

Celebrate at our Walthamstow or Leytonstone venues – they are both fun, welcoming spaces perfect for children's parties.

⚡ In E17, September is almost fully booked – we only have TWO party slots left on the 27th September!

October, November and December are also starting to fill up, so if you're planning an autumn or Christmas birthday, please don't leave it too late.

You can check availability and book directly through our website.

🏃 Hurry – once the slots are gone, they're gone!

14/09/2026

📸 FREE PLAY SESSIONS – WE NEED YOUR SMILES! 💛

We’re updating our photos and we’d love some of our wonderful Toy Library families to be part of them!

We need some fresh images to use on our social media, website, leaflets, posters and other publicity – showing what the Toy Library is really about: children playing, exploring, creating and having fun. 🧸🎨🛝

So, we’re running two FREE play sessions next week:

📍 Walthamstow Toy Library
📅 Tuesday 22 September
⏰ 2.30–4pm

📍 Leytonstone Toy Library
📅 Thursday 24 September
⏰ 1–2.30pm

Come along, enjoy a free play session and help us capture some lovely new images of the Toy Library in action.

📸 We’ll ask you to complete a photography consent form before any photographs of you or your children are used.

💛 Want to join us? Comment “WE’RE IN!” below and tell us which Toy Library you’d like to come to- E17 or E11. We’ll put you on the guest list.

We’d love to see lots of familiar faces – and new ones too! 💛

Please come along and help us show everyone just how much fun there is to be had at the Toy Library.

12/09/2026

🎬✨ FREE CINEMA UNDER THE STARS – THE WILD ROBOT✨🎬

📅 Saturday 19th September 2026
📍 Langthorne Park, Leytonstone
🎟️ FREE ENTRY

Join us for a magical evening of cinema under the stars!

Bring your family and friends and enjoy The Wild Robot in the beautiful surroundings of Langthorne Park.

Bring along your deck chairs, blankets and cushions, get cosy and enjoy an evening of outdoor cinema! 🌙🍿

Drinks and snacks will be available to purchase, or you're very welcome to bring your own picnic.

Please dress appropriately for the weather – this is an outdoor event and will go ahead unless conditions are deemed unsafe.

🕡 Gates open: 6.30pm
🎥 Film starts: 7.30pm

About The Wild Robot

After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.

⭐ Rating: U
⏱️ Runtime: 1hr 42mins
🎞️ Genres: Adventure, Animation & Family

🎟️ Tickets are FREE, but please book your places:
https://ticketlab.app/events/e17toylibrary #/

🌳 Bring a picnic, wrap up warm and join us for a wonderful evening of FREE family cinema in Langthorne Park!🎬✨

11/09/2026

If you become our supporter on , you'll raise free funds for Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre simply by shopping online. And if you join by Sunday, you can help Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre WIN a £250 donation prize in easyfundraising's giveaway! Walthamstow Toy Library and Play Centre will get a FREE entry each time a new supporter signs up! It only takes a moment and it's completely free, so please get involved if you haven't already - this would really boost our fundraising: https://join.easyfundraising.org.uk/walthamstowtlpc/3XZ98Q/s2s/E7OVWoL0/PMC01/facebook/

10/09/2026

🎃👻 DONATE YOUR HALLOWEEN COSTUMES – AND HELP US KEEP HALLOWEEN GREEN! ♻️🧙‍♀️

We’re getting ready for Halloween at the Toy Library and this year our message is simple:

BORROW, DON’T BUY! 🎃♻️

We’re collecting pre-loved Halloween costumes for children aged 0–10 years so that local families can borrow a costume rather than buying something new for just one night.

And there’s a scary side to Halloween that has nothing to do with ghosts… 👻

🎃 An estimated 7 million Halloween costumes are thrown away in the UK every year.

🧛 Research found that 4 in 10 costumes are worn just once before being thrown away.

🕷️ A 2019 study by the , supported by , found that 83% of the material in Halloween costumes surveyed was plastic – with polyester making up the largest share.

🧙‍♀️ The study estimated that Halloween costumes create around 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste – equivalent in weight to around 83 million plastic bottles!

There has to be a better way.

If you have Halloween costumes your children have grown out of, please donate them to the Toy Library. Costumes can then be enjoyed by another child, and another, and another. 💚

And when Halloween comes around, come and borrow a costume from us instead of buying new.

It saves families money, reduces waste and keeps perfectly good costumes in use for longer – exactly what a Toy Library is all about. 🌍♻️

Toys – and Halloween costumes – that don’t cost the Earth. 🌎

📍 Donations welcome at Walthamstow and Leytonstone Toy Libraries
👶🧒 Costumes wanted for ages 0–10 years

28/08/2026

Happy Friday everyone! 👋💛

We’ve been a bit quiet on here for the past few weeks. Not because we don’t care or because we haven’t got anything to tell you – we do, and we have!

We’re a small team and lots of us have been taking some well-earned annual leave over the summer, so sometimes something has got to give. Busy parents… you know where we’re coming from, right?! 😅

And actually, we’ve realised something important: YOU are our best marketing tool! 📣

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has told a friend, neighbour, parent at the school gates or someone at the park about the Toy Library. Whether you’ve recommended our toy loaning, play sessions, Sensory Room, Adventure Playground, Community Cupboard, Little Free Library or any of the other things we do – thank you. ❤️

Word of mouth makes such a difference to a small charity like ours, so please keep spreading the word!

Now for a couple of important announcements…

🌞 BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

We’ll be closed for the Bank Holiday weekend, which means no Adventure Playground this weekend and no play sessions on Monday. Sorry!

It’s always a tough call. We know not everyone goes away, and not every family has easy access to affordable or accessible things to do with the kids. BUT… we also believe it’s really important that our wonderful team gets a proper break and some time with their own families too. 💛

🎬 OPEN AIR CINEMA IS BACK!

We’re celebrating the end of the summer holidays in true style with and our annual Open Air Cinema in Langthorne Park!

🍿 Friday 4 September – Mousehunt
🤖 Saturday 19 September – The Wild Robot

Both films are FREE and suitable for the whole family. Book tickets through

The films will start at around 7.45pm, once it’s dark, and run for approximately 90 minutes.

Bring something to sit on, get cosy and enjoy a film under the stars. ✨🎥

We hope to see lots of you there – and thank you, as always, for supporting your local Toy Library. 💛

21/08/2026

It’s not too late to get your tickets for in Langthorne Park tonight! 🎭✨

The performance starts at 7.30pm and the Pavilion café will be open beforehand for drinks and treats.

And look we've even got… Bottom cup cakes! 🫏🧁

Come early, grab something from the café, find your spot in the park and settle in for a brilliant evening of Shakespeare under the summer sky.

Here's the booking link https://ticketlab.app/events/e17toylibrary #/

See you tonight! 🌿🎭

Address

William Morris Hall, 6-8 Somers Road
London
E176RX

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 1pm
Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

+442089053401

Website

https://linktr.ee/walthamstowtoylibrary

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