Seventh Protect Our Playground toy library launched at Saunton Beach

Local environmental charity Plastic Free North Devon (PFND) has announced their 7th Toy Library has been installed at Saunton Beach as part of its Visitor Campaign.

Its space themed artwork, created by PFND volunteer Andy Clee and his family, encourages everyone to #loveyourplanet and #protectyourplayground.

The aim of the toy libraries is to provide a resource for families to be part of a ‘circular economy’ when it comes to beach toys - rather than families buying buckets, spades, and polystyrene bodyboards for their holidays and them being abandoned on our beaches, sent to landfill, or just sitting unused at the back of cupboards. Families can borrow beach toys for their holiday and then bring them back at the end of their stay, ready for another family to use.

This latest toy library is the sixth installed with funding from the Welcome Back Fund through North Devon Council (seventh in total) benefitting visitors and locals in North Devon beachside locations to protect our coastline. It is located just next to the Beach Hut Hire platform on the beach at Saunton.

Anne-Marie Eveleigh, Operations Director, Plastic Free North Devon, explained: “We are so pleased to be able to install the 7th Toy Library at Saunton Beach. With a large volume of tourists and beach goers coming to this beach each year we hope that this will be well used and will help us to reduce the impact of single use beach toys. With the climate crisis and the rising cost of living at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds right now, we’re really grateful for the opportunity to work with our local communities to make a positive difference where we can, one small step at a time."

A spokesperson for Christie Estates said: "The Estate is happy to support the installation of a Toy Library which will provide many hours of fun for children enjoying Saunton Sands during the season. As a business supporter of PFND we are pleased to be working alongside the organisation on initiatives which aim to reduce waste on North Devon's beaches.

"Our sincere thanks to the Saunton Beach community and Christie's Estates for supporting the installation of this Toy Library. Specifically we would like to thank the following for offering to be the library guardians: Jules from Saunton Beach Hut Hire, Bridget Allsopp from Saunton Break Cafe, Lucy Tamlyn from Saunton Beach Enterprises and Danii from the Social Swim Group. We would also like to thank the North Devon Council who were able to fund the expansion of this project through the Welcome Back Fund."

The toy libraries are just one way that Plastic Free North Devon’s Visitor Campaign seeks to harness the collective power of local businesses and community to educate and empower visitors to protect and care for the amazing nature right here on our doorstep.

The campaign includes resources and ideas for businesses to use to inspire behavioral change, a newly released Sustainable Housekeeping Toolkit for cleaners, property managers and business owners, and a discount on the Protect our Playground sustainable wooden bellyboards for all Visitor Campaign sign ups. Visit www.plasticfreenorthdevon.org/plastic-free-holidays for more information.

And if you live further afield and would like to build your own shed, the original design by PFND trustee Andy Clee is available open source here: https://plasticfreenorthdevon.org/blog/protect-our-playground-toy-library-launches-in-croyde.