Local knowledge quiz answers

In December we ran a local knowledge quiz. This proved very popular and raised £31 for the toy library. Thank you to all who bought a quiz sheet.

The quiz was won by H Middleton.

The answers are:


1. Where is the National Gas Museum located? - Leicester


2. What links agricultural breeding methods, package holidays and diets? Pioneered by people born in Leicestershire


3. From the Market Place in Shepshed which is closest: Market Street Leicester, Nottingham or Derby? Leics 19.64 m, Nottm 20.53m, Derby 21.01m


4. How many different locations are featured in the Shepshed Heritage trail? 22


5. Where was the biggest bell in England cast? - Loughborough

and where does it hang? - St Pauls

6. Which of the following sheep are long wooled? Leicester, Border Leicester, Cotswold and Oxford Down? - All of them

7. How has Leicester famously been referred to: The Faithful City, The Metropolis of Dissent, The Toyshop of Europe or The City of Three Spires? - The Metropolis of Dissent

8. Who invented the a) spinning frame – Richard Arkwright

b) spinning Jenny – James Hargraves

c) spinning mule – Samuel Crompton

9. Where was the home of Lady Jane Grey? - Bradgate Park

and how long was she queen for? – 9 days

10. Which of the following roman sites does Leicester now occupy? Glevum, Ratae, Corinium, Aquae, Uriconium. - Ratae

11. What links Gopsall Hall (near Twycross) and Handel? He wrote part of the Messaiah there.

12. How many bells does the Loughborough Carillon have? – 47

13. What is known at the playground of Leicestershire – Charnwood Forest

14. Just down the road from Loughborough is East Midlands Airport. It was formerly known as Nottingham East Midlands, but has a Derby postcode. Which county is it actually situated in? Leics

15. Loughborough University is world renowned for its sporting facilities, including an International Athletics stadium and the National Cricket Centre. When was the Technical Institute, from which it grew, established 1881, 1862, 1909 or 1931? - 1909

16. 2007 saw a number of sightings of which unusual animal in the Loughborough area? - Black panther

17. The picturesque Great Central Railway's platforms and steam engines have provided the backdrop to many films. Which of these movies didn't use it as a location: a) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, b) Enigma, c) The Hours, d) Shadowlands? - H Potter

18. What crime busting technique was developed at Leicester University: a) finger prints, b) photo identikit, c) lie detector, d) DNA testing? - DNA testing

19. Name the three people who are referred to in question 2 - Robert Bakewell, Thomas Cook, Rosemary Conley.

20. In what year did Shepshed High School move to its new purpose built accommodation? - 2007

Story Sacks

Have you tried one of our story sacks? A great resource for families and schools - each story or themed sack enables in depth exploration of a topic or story and contains books, toys and props to illustrate the theme and a CD or Video.

We are planning to review and update our comprehensive range of story sacks throughout 2011 - we will post details of updated sacks on this website. The story sacks will feature in our guided play sessions from January.

We are very grateful to Shepshed Lions and Loughborough University for the recent funding they have awarded us which will support us in this project.

Christmas opening times

Please note that our last day of opening this year will be Friday 17th December, and we will re-open on Monday 10th January 2011. We'll send out another reminder nearer the time!

Our Christmas party will be held on Monday 13th and Wednesday 15th December 11:30-12:30. There are just 8 tickets left, so come and buy one soon if you would like to join in the party fun.

Songs, games, craft and a picnic lunch. £2.50 per child.

Christmas Family Fun

Why not borrow a game this Christmas and enjoy some family fun? Remember Twister, Frustration, Don't Panic, Boggle, Pictionary, HeadBanz, Build a Beetle? We have lots of games to choose from.

Toy Safety Christmas Shopping advice

Please see this very important advice about choosing toys with safety in mind from the Child Action Prevention Trust

Toy safety – Christmas shopping special

Of all the risks to children’s safety, the very things that are designed and produced especially for them, to make them happy, stimulate them and help their development should be the least of a parent’s worries.

However, some toys and play equipment bought in good faith by children’s parents, relatives and friends can pose a risk.Most toys in the UK are actually very safe - there is extensive legislation governing the manufacture of toys in the UK and the rest of Europe. But there are cheap, illegal imports available, so as parents start to think about Christmas shopping, now is a good time to spread the message.

Before we get started on shopping, it’s worth remembering that a big risk factor is younger children getting hold of toys which aren’t appropriate to their age. We’re not talking about something like Resident Evil on the X Box, but only a small age difference can be critical – for example, a suitable toy for a child of seven might be harmful for their toddler sibling. Sometimes larger toys may have smaller components which can pose a choking risk, that might not be immediately apparent.

Also, the other main risk toys pose is a trip hazard for children and adults, so it’s a pain, but it is important to keep floors tidy and to ensure that stairs are kept free of toys and other clutter.

These seem like obvious precautions to take, but it’s worth reminding parents to take extra care around Christmas when there are lots of new and unfamiliar toys in the house.

When shopping for Christmas presents, there are three golden rules.

1. Always head to reputable retailers, who take care about the products they stock year-round and where you can return toys if they have a fault. Markets, car boot sales or temporary shops often sell illegally imported toys that are unlikely to conform to strict toy safety requirements. Counterfeit goods may have low prices but are illegal, are not made to proper standards and can be dangerous for children. Trading standards have seized illegal toys that quickly fall apart, revealing sharp metal spikes and nails, and others with cords and balls that could easily choke a young child to death.
2. If you’re shopping online, head to the websites of well-known retailers and brand names. Unfortunately, internet auction sites can also be prime sources of counterfeits. Be wary of ‘too good to be true’ bargains. If it costs less than half the normal price, it is likely to be a fake.
3. Make sure that the toys you give are appropriate for the child’s age, as babies and toddlers can choke on small parts or swallow harmful components.

Safety marks

The Lion Mark is a good indicator of a toy’s safety.Toys with this mark have been made to a high standard of safety and quality, as the mark is used by members of the British Toy and Hobby Association.
Toys that are not intended for children under 36 months are clearly marked with an age warning symbol.
In addition, you will also see the ‘CE’ mark. This is required by law on any toy sold within the EU. However, it is only the manufacturer’s claim of compliance with European legislation and is not intended as a guide for consumers.

Though do remember that counterfeiters may copy not just the toy but the packaging too! So, by itself, a safety mark is no guarantee of a toy’s safety.

Christmas Party Tickets

Tickets are now on sale for our Christmas Party. Songs, games, craft, play and a picnic lunch!

In order to avoid overcrowding we are holding our party on 2 days: Monday 13th December and Wednesday 15th December 11:30-12:30. Tickets are £2.50 per child and numbers are strictly limited on each day, so buy yours now to avoid disappointment.

Great Turn Out For Cup Final Night

Twenty Five friends and family joined us for a great night out at Nottingham Greyhound stadium for the final of the Charities Cup. The toy library was allocated dogs running from Trap 5 on the night, and finished third overall. The other charities taking part on the night were Barrow Town FC, FOALS, Nottingham Players Hockey Club, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Kings Arms Mansfield.

Between the 2 greyhound nights we raised almost £200 for toy library funds. A big thankyou to everyone who supported us.

National recognition for toy library

We have received recognition nationally and locally for the value of the services we offer to families throughout Charnwood. Grants have been received from The Big Lottery Awards for All fund and Charnwood Borough Council.

These will enable the toy library to deliver 12 months of its popular and stimulating Guided Play Sessions, and continue to lend toys, games and puzzles to families and childcare organisations.

The Guided Play Sessions were piloted at the beginning of the year and generated much interest and support among our members. Parents commented on how engaged the children were with the various activities, and how these helped develop language, social and motor skills. The sessions introduce the children to a range of topics that help them understand the world around them. Families can then borrow a range of toys to further explore the topic at home.

Since September we have developed the theme of pets including a pretend-play pet shop, vets sessions, crafts and dough modelling. After half term we will move on to an Autumn-Winter theme. Sessions run twice a week from 10-12am.

New dates for Guided Play Sessions

We have a great timetable of seasonal activities lined up for our Guided Play sessions. Spiders, fireworks and snow men can all be expected to make an appearance.

Sessions run from 10-12 on the following dates:
Thurs 28th Oct (evening session 6:30-7:30)
Fri 29th Oct

Weds 3rd Nov
Fri 5th Nov
Mon 8th Nov
Weds 10th Nov
Weds 17th Nov
Fri 19th Nov
Thus 25th Nov (evening session 6:30-7:30)
Fri 26th Nov

All welcome

Toy Library gains recognition for stimulating play sessions

Recently we were visited by a production team from Capacity Builders. They came to see how we work, and how we had utilised a grant from Voluntary Action Leicestershire over the last 18 months. Here is what they said:

"Shepshed Toy Library made a successful application to the Grassroots Grants programme, enabling it to promote play for all children in Shepshed and the surrounding area by providing a large variety of toys that can be loaned out and offering a stimulating play area for children.

Alison Jones, who runs the toy library, explains "VAL helped us to access funding and extend the number of play sessions we offer. We've also been able to expand the multicultural range of our toys - so our pretend play toys include cooking sets with different kinds of foods like noodles and dumplings, which the kids love to play with. It's really important that children have props that are culturally relevant to them that they can use as a starting point to explore the world and their place in it."

The play services that we offer include our "guided play" sessions. The next of these will run on Monday 4th, Weds 6th, Weds 13th and Fri 15th October from 10:00-12:00 and will continue our theme of "pets". Come along and give them a try.

next guided play sessions

Our popular guided play sessions will next run on:

Mon 20th Sept
Wed 22nd sept
Thurs 30th sept(evening)
Fri 1st october

All welcome

More guided play leaflets added

Please see our page of Guided Play Leaflets (in the right hand menu) which accompany our guided play sessions. 4 have been published on the website so far, and more will be added over the coming weeks.

Would you like to get involved?

On Thursday 30th September we will hold our Annual General Meeting at the toy library from 7:30-9:00pm.

Would you like to come along and hear more about how we run? Perhaps you might like to join our friendly committee and help us to continue to provide our service to families in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire?

Our committee meets once every 2 months at the toy library. At each meeting we review the toy library's activities for the last 2 months and plan upcoming events. The group is friendly and informal, and anyone is welcome to come along and hear what we are up to. We organise an annual social event for committee members and volunteers. Last year it was held at the local Indian Restaurant.

If you would like to know more, please ask at the toy library, or feel free to come to the next meeting.

A night at the greyhounds

Friends of Shepshed Toy Library and their families enjoyed a night out at Nottingham Greyhound Stadium, as one of the featured charities in the Ballsmania Charity League Cup.

The toy library were joined by Sandiacre CC, Macmillan Cancer, TPAshby, Derwent FC, and Kauto Stars FC.

On the night we were allocated the dogs that ran from Trap 3 and were awarded points depending on where our dog came in the race. "Our" dogs won 6 out of 15 races on the night, and scored 28 points. This made us the highest scoring charity in this heat of the competition and gets us through to the cup final on 12th November.

Everyone had a great night out, and it was good to see old friends and meet new people. The night raised £80 for toy library funds.

Autumn term approaching!

We hope everyone had a good summer holiday. This is a quick reminder that the toy library will re-open on Monday 6th September.

Over the summer we ran our 100 Sporting Legends competition. 10 lucky winners won a range of great prizes including match tickets, a stadium tour, signed photos, museum passes and many more prizes. The competition raised £38 for toy library funds.

The winners were Z Ellis, P Boneham, T Widdowson, G Jones, J Thornton, A Jones, A Browne, JRS and N Patterson.

We have lots of activities lined up for the Autumn term, and look forward to seeing you all in September.

New toy stock

We have purchased a number of new toys in recent weeks including a second jumparoo, magnetic grow and go set, calculating cash register and wooden garage with lift. We have also added new trains to a number of our "Thomas and friends" train sets.



These toys were funded by grants from Warburons Community Fund and Loughborough University Education Fund.

If there is a particular item that you would like to borrow, why not put your name on our reservations list, and we will call you when the item becomes available.

Summer Opening Times Reminder

The summer holidays are fast approaching!

We are open for 3 Wednesdays during the summer break: Weds 28th July, 4th August and 11th of August 9:30-12:00.

Normal opening will recommence on Monday 6th September.

We wish everyone a happy summer break.

Anagram Competition - winners announced

The winners of our popular anagram competition were drawn today. Congratulations to Hilary Sands, Yvonne Simpson and Keith Rabjohns.

The quiz raised £43 for toy library funds. Thank you to all who took part.

The correct answers are listed below.

1. Cello vial/Coalville
2. Speed shh/Shepshed
3. Breakthrough roam/Market Harborough
4. Reflown wind not/Newtown Lindford
5. Condensing total/Castle Donington
6. My slow dew/Wymeswold
7. Moneywort balm/Melton Mowbray
8. Ghoul hobo rug/Loughborough
9. Hen hart/Hathern
10. Veterans no/Ravenstone
11. Turban ones/Braunstone
12. Buntings not not o/Sutton Bonnington
13. Trowel truth/Lutterworth
14. Cob skit/Ibstock
15. Masterwork both/Market Harborough
16. Gob wrath/Bagworth
17. Wings not nan/Swannington
18. Northbound let sow/Burton on the Wolds
19. Result moron/Mountsorrel
20. Hasn’t wild/Swithland
21. Corn stop/Cropston
22. Carton shut/Thurcaston
23. Haunt storm/Thurmaston
24. Affectionate whelk err/Ratcliffe on the Wreake
25. Porous baron war/Barrow upon Soar
26. Leopard north/Thorpe Arnold
27. Kettle baby/Ab Kettleby
28. Headlight neon not/Donington le Heath
29. Hornet sting/Thringstone
30. Secret lie/Leicester
31. Redundant baron snot/Stanton under Bardon
32. Drake film/Markfield
33. Fee hid lad/Field Head
34. Yellow stain/Isley Walton
35. Seaport hog/Osgathorpe
36. Swig not/Wigston

Calling all sports fans!

Sports fans have lots to look forward to at the toy library during July and August.

Our Sports Draw has lots of fantastic prizes including match tickets, stadium tour and signed memorabilia. £2 per square on our "100 sporting legends" board. Call in to the toy library to choose your sports star and your chance to win.

Prizes include:
2 match tickets for a Nottingham forest game.
Leicester city stadium tour
Signed Match of the day running order
signed photo of Gary Lineker
signed photo of Andy grey and many more great prizes...

We also have tickets for sale for the Charity Cup League at Nottingham Greyhound Stadium on Friday 27th August. £5 a ticket (a saving of £1 per person on the standard gate price). Come and join us for a great night out. Children go free! All proceeds from advance ticket sales will go to the toy library.

Our dogs will be racing from trap 3 on the night, and if we score enough points we will go through to the final and a chance to compete for £150 prize money.

The first race is at 7:15pm and the gates open at 6:00pm. Full bar and catering facilities. Large free car park. See www.nottinghamdogs.com for more details.

Please note that Nottingham greyhound stadium operates a challenge 21 policy.

Anagram competition

Entries for our anagram competition are due in Monday 5th July. Return them to us for your chance to win!

Teddy Bears' Picnic

Come and join our Teddy Bear's picnic on Mon July 12th 11:30-12:15 at the toy library. Crafts, songs, games and a lovely picnic lunch. Tickets £2.50. Bring a Teddy and join the fun!

Next Evening Opening

Our next evening opening will be Thursday 24th June 6:30-7:30pm. We will again be focusing on using board games for family fun. Why not bring your school-age children and come an play a game with us.

You can find out Guided Play sheet on board games in the menu on the right hand side.

Summer Holiday Opening Times

The summer holidays are fast approaching. As usual, we will be open for three Wednesdays 9:30-12:00 during the summer holidays.

The dates are: 28th July, 4th Aug and 11th Aug.

Normal toy library opening will resume on Monday 6th September.

Please take a moment to read our Summer Newsletter, which you will find in the menu on the right hand side of this page.

Summer Fun!

Thanks to the Warburtons Community Fund, we have just bought a new trike and scooter suitable for 3-6 year olds. We have lots of summertime outdoor play equipment: ride-ons, water play, slides, trampolines, skates, tents/tunnels and garden games. Outdoor stock is going out quickly - so come and see what we have, or reserve a particular item.

Evening opening

The toy library will be open this Thursday evening from 6:30-7:30.

We will be running a special play session focussing on board games. Why not bring your school-age children along and enjoy a game with us?

See our 'toys in stock' page (right hand column) for a list of games that can be borrowed. These are brilliant for holidays and family occasions.

New Toys

We have some great new toys for children aged 8 and over. Big Boggle will appeal to those who like word play. We also have Carol Vorderman's Sudoku for those who like numbers. And for something completely different, we have 2 new magic sets.

We have also ordered some new outdoor toys including trikes. These should be in soon. Summer play equipment is beginning to get snapped up, so if you are thinking of borrowing from our range of ride-on toys, slides, trampolines and other outdoor games, come and see us soon.

Spring term guided play

Look forward to our Spring term programme of guided play. See posters in the Toy Library for latest dates and events.

Chocolate Quiz winner

Our very popular chocolate quiz raised £150 for the toy library. The winner was Michelle Huggins. Congratulations to Michelle and a big thank you to everyone who supported our quiz.

We have had a lot of requests for the answers to the quiz, so here goes....

Sly giggles - Snickers
A subject for discussion - Topic
Big cat's pub - Lion bar
US coin - Dime
Roman god of war - Mars
Calm ear (anag) - Caramel
Feline equipment - Kit Kat
High class thoroughfare - Quality Street
---- dynamics - Aero
Istanbul harem - Turkish delight
Sun chime (anag) - Munchies
Flowers - Roses
Small yappy dog - Yorkie
Birthday, anniversary etc - Celebrations
Assorted girls - Dolly Mixtures
A short break - Time out
Lots of stars - Milky way
Task quietly - whisper
Power surge - Boost
Scrooge's favourite - Humbug
Mother's local - Mars bar
Carrier for dairy produce - Milk Tray
Fireworks in the sky - Star burst
Cinderella's friend - Buttons
Big bus - Double Decker
Vehicle and a coat - Caramac
Dark occult - Black magic
The teddy bears had one - Picnic
King Arthur's musicians - Minstrels
Wobbly infants - Jelly babies
I can't believe its not whisky - Butter scotch
Dating agencies - Matchmakers
Nearly between - Twix
Distant solar system - Galaxy
Pirates loot - Bounty
Money making royalty - Mint imperials
Pig's tail perhaps - Curly Wurly
Toothless drink - Wine gums
EC Urchin (anag) - Crunchie
Bowled over - Skittles
Good children get these - Treats
9,10,11... After Eights
Inhabitants of the Mediterranean - Maltesers
How do you eat yours? - Cream Egg
Spin around - Twirl
Coffee trips (anag) - Toffee Crisp
Sport for princes - Polo
100% precious metal - All Gold

Guided Play Event

Our successful series of guided play events continues tomorrow with play and crafts for older children. This will take place during our evening session at the toy library 6:30-7:30. Come along and share some family time with your school-age children.

WINNERS - EASTER COLOURING COMPETITION

The winners of our children's Easter colouring competition are:

Under 3s - Erin Grimes
3-5 year olds - Jessica Eyre
Over 5's - Natalie Huggins

Well done! And thankyou to everyone who entered.

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Welcome!

Welcome to our new website. You will find lots of useful information about the toy library on these pages, as well as news items and pictures of our events.

Please book mark this site to make sure you keep up to date with all that we are doing!