I would love to join but sadly have a meet the funder event.

I love this! I realised on Monday that I need to write more down and have a better system for storing images. I came to this realisation as a funder called out of the blue and wants to give me money to run some community events. They wanted a report on last year’s events. I spent ages on Monday going through photos, looking for emails where people had given feedback and sorting through spreadsheets to get numbers. I got it done, but could see there’s a much better way. It’s not just work events either. I have just started journaling positive things I do in my day and things I found challenging.

I want to buy the building that Walthamstow Toy Library rents from a national charity, without burning myself out. Also want to raise the profile of the Toy Library and make myself more visible. 📊 REVENUE STATS £20k grant from the National Lottery to renovate the Adventure Playground at the bottom of the Toy Library garden. 🚀 MAIN ACTIONS LAST WEEK: First week back after the Christmas holidays. Met with @MamaJ Hollows and made a plan to get Trustees Annual Report written, focus on grant writing, winning awards, financial planning for work and home. 🏆 BIG WINS & ACHIEVEMENTS: - Did my first post on LinkedIn. Challenge is to post once a week till the end of June. - Positive response to social posts about Adventure Playground funding - Adventure Playground specialists got in touch and want to support. - Had a great weekend away - 2 nights glamping in Suffolk with my husband. Sat around the campfire, cooked pizza in the pizza oven, went for lovely walks and got him on board with the financial planning for home. ⚠️ LESSONS & CHALLENGES: Biggest lesson this week- don’t be afraid to shout about what the Toy Library/I am doing. Had a really positive response and offers of help. Biggest challenge: My youngest son has ASD and is a school refuser. He’s 17 and in his final year of A levels. He hasn’t been to school for weeks. I am spending a lot of time/energy every morning trying to get him up, encouraging him to go in, providing emotional support. I feel lots of different emotions - sad, angry, frustrated, disappointed. It’s exhausting and it’s having an impact on my work and health. 🎯 THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITIES: 💫 Complete Trustees Annual Report 💫 Present to Trustees at our meeting this Thursday - 3 strategic pillars (visibility, funding, buy the building). Get them to lead/co-own. 💫 Create a ‘building stakeholder’ plan and get in touch with 4-5 stakeholders 💫 Continue to get support for my son.

Thanks @MamaJ Hollows for the intro. Hello everyone, I am Helen CEO of Walthamstow Toy Library & Play Centre. We are a small charity, running in the London Borough of Waltham Forest for over 50 years now (no I am not the founder!). We run two play centres providing safe, creative spaces for families to play, learn, connect and borrow toys that don’t cost the Earth 🌍 I am really looking forward to connecting and learning with you all.