IF YOUR children (or grandchildren) have an insatiable appetite for fresh stimulation and novelty yet you can’t store never mind afford all that you would like to give them, you may well find the Inverness Mobile Toy Library is just the thing for them.

For £6 a year or less* a member of this Dalneigh-based van service can have two toys on loan for a period of four weeks at a time. Every month the mobile library calls round at various set points and its stock ranges from large items such as outside playground toys or sit-and-rides to things as small as a jigsaw. Or you can call at the main toy store at the Family Resource Centre in Limetree Avenue.

Membership is open to children up to the age of seven and those with special needs, and there are around 250 members within a 60-mile radius of Inverness. Members receive a regular newsletter keeping everyone up to date on what is available.

Not only does the service give children access to a wider selection of stimulating toys than most people can give house room to, it also gets them used to the idea of caring for the toys in their possession and giving them back after the month is up.

The toys are all in good working order, and if a toy becomes damaged while it is in your care you will be liable to a standard £1 fine… it’s a case of give it back as you found it.

The service has been closed over the summer holidays, but it opens again in mid-August. Recently the Toy Library received some new funding, so it is really well stocked at the moment, say the organisers. Group membership is also available – they can borrow up to four toys per four weeks.