May Newsletter 2026
Child Accident Prevention Week
Child Accident Prevention Week takes place from Monday 1st to Sunday 7th June 2026 and this year’s theme is Making Prevention Possible. Organised by the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), the week shines a spotlight on simple, practical ways to help keep children safe at home and out in the community.
CAPT offers a wide range of free resources for parents, carers and professionals, including parent packs, fact sheets, and workshops session plans. Their guidance covers everyday safety topics such as burns, choking, drowning, falls, poisoning, road safety and more, helping families feel informed and confident.
You can explore the full range of resources at www.capt.org.uk
BELS & Toy Library also offer a range of affordable home safety items, including plug covers, corner protectors, cupboard locks and door guards, as well as fire guards and stair gates to help create safer spaces for little ones.
Volunteers Week
Volunteers Week runs from 1st-7th June.
We couldn’t run our project without the invaluable support that we receive from our amazing volunteers - Carol, Janice, Susan, Rachel, Charlotte, Wendy, Hannah, Katie, Sharon, Louise, Jamie, Rebecca and Anne (who isn’t an official volunteer but is always supporting us).
Our in project volunteers help us in the project cleaning, sorting and preparing the toys/ equipment, helping with outreach and helping with admin tasks. Other volunteers work behind the scenes helping with finances, funding, policies, safeguarding and marketing.
We are truly grateful for all the time and hard work that they dedicate to us.
Funding News
We are always very appreciative to the foundations that support us through funding.
We would like to say a big thank you to our most recent funders
JesDesStaff at The Community Foundation North East
On Thursday 14th May over 80 Sage Colleagues and Partners came together to take on a charity hike challenge around Ullswater, using one of their Sage Foundation volunteering days.
They chose us as one of the local charities to support. They have raised well over £2000 for us and this will be increased with match funding from Sage Foundation - this is incredible for our small charity.
We would like to say a huge thank you and well done to everyone who took part and supported the challenge.
There is still time to donate using the link below (ends 31st May)
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/belstoylibraryullswater?utm_term=yjEGqNJvR&utm_ys
Summer Toys
It’s not long until is officially summer! We have a fantastic range of outdoor summer toys. The very popular bubble machines, parachutes, Aqua Plays, ride-ons, bikes, scooters, obstacle courses, stepping stones, bats and balls, water blasters to name a few. So much fun to be had in the garden/yarden/park.
We would really appreciate it if you could return the toys that you borrow in the condition that you received them (free from dirt, sand, food etc). All toys are checked and cleaned before going back on the shelf, which can be time consuming when we have to scrub mud and dirt from them.
Thank you for your understanding.