A Bank Full of Joy

A simple idea gives thousands of children in India the chance to regain their childhood.

Update January 2018:

When we came across Toybank in 2012, it had 30 toy libraries and had served a total of 30,000 children in the three years since it had been registered.

It now works with 43,009 children every day in the 279 play centers it operates.

And one of the things founder Shweta is happiest about is that children from different economic backgrounds are mixing at the toy libraries.

Toybank is now on Global Giving's platform, where you can give access to play to disadvantaged children through a one-off or recurring donation.

Simple toys can make them children again - Toybank founder Shweta Chari


Shweta Chari was having dinner with friends in 2004 when she shared an idea to create a place where children could play.

Sharing that many children are forced to be labourers at an early age, sometimes in dangerous industries such as firecrackers, the electronics engineer wanted to help them regain their childhood.

"Simple toys can make them children again," says Shweta, who later that year, with the help of her friends, founded Toybank.

The NGO provides toys and a place to play, to kids whose families can't afford to buy what many consider a luxury.

Determined to give these children the right to a childhood, Toybank has put smiles on the faces of thousands of children in India.

About Toybank

Since it was established in 2004, Toybank has set up 282 centres in India, where underprivileged kids, including orphans and survivors of abuse, are empowered through healthy play. In 2017, it served over 37,000 children.

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Filmmaker

Pearl Forss