A WELLINGTON organisation which lends out toys to families which otherwise could not afford them has won a £500 donation in a nationwide giving scheme.

Wellington Toy Library, which is run entirely by volunteers, received the money from Skipton Building Society’s Grassroots Giving programme.

A total of 161 community organisations around the UK shared a fund of £80,500.

Toy library representatives visited Skipton’s Taunton branch in Cheapside to say thank you and received another surprise when staff handed over more toys for their good cause.

Will McAlpine, senior manager of the Taunton branch, said: “We were so pleased to welcome representatives from Wellington Toy Library to our branch.

“As well as the £500 from our Grassroots Giving scheme, we also decided to donate some Christmas sacks full of toys on the day.”

Run entirely by a group of volunteers, Wellington Toy Library has more than 300 toys to loan out to families who may not be able to afford to buy them.

These include anything from educational toys, puzzles and games to bikes, pedal cars, scooters and larger outdoor toys.

The library also provides a meeting place for parents, carers and their children so that they can socialise and play with the toys. It is open every Monday throughout the year and every second and fourth Saturday.

The group is entirely dependent on donations for the purchase of the toys and members of the Toy Library pay a nominal £3 per year to belong and can borrow up to five toys per month for 50p per toy.

The money from Skipton is being spent on refurbishing the toy store and for buying replacement toys, including a slide and other outdoor toys.

Toy library official Bridget Hodges said: “The continuation of the Toy Library depends on us being able to regularly replace our stock of toys and on the upkeep of the toy store.

“We are one of the very few remaining Toy Libraries left in Somerset and we give an invaluable service to the families in our local community.

“This money would help ensure that we can continue to do so.”