In 1967, my mother, Jill Norris, who has died aged 96, set up Enfield Toy Library, in north London – the first of its kind in the UK – to provide local children with learning disabilities access to a wide range of educational toys. At the time she had three children under the age of five, two of whom had disabilities. In 1972 the growing network that she had founded was registered as a national charity, the Toy Libraries Association.
Jill was born in London, the youngest of four children of Doris (nee Siepmann) and Percival Waterfield, a senior civil servant. She was at school during the second world war at Cheltenham Ladies’ college and won an exhibition in history to Oxford, where she studied PPE – philosophy, politics and economics – at Lady Margaret Hall.
After graduating Jill worked for five years at the Treasury, but an adventurous nature took her to work and travel in the US in 1953 and Poland in 1958. She had jobs in the UN in New York and the International Bank in Washington DC, then drove with girlfriends across the US to San Francisco, where she worked for British Information Services.
On returning to London, Jill worked as a toy department manager in John Lewis before training as a Froebel teacher and working in a kindergarten and primary schools for a year. But despite a lively intellect, interest in people and a fund of original new ideas, she had not yet found her career niche when, aged 35, she married Harry Norris, an accountant who subsequently became the finance director of the building firm Wimpey.
They had three children in quick succession, Billy, who was diagnosed with autism, Charlie, born with Down’s syndrome – both also had heart conditions – and me. Her sons’ learning difficulties fuelled Jill’s interest in early development and in 1967 she started a toy library; at first the toys were stored in a box under her bed, later she was offered a meeting space, storage and support.
Jill encouraged other branches to start, received good press coverage and set up a steering committee of paediatric specialists. By 1972 some 40 toy libraries had opened and the Toy Libraries Association was formed, later growing into an international organisation. The association expanded to include toy libraries run for all children, not just those with special needs.
For decades Jill was a creative and prolific fundraiser for Toy Libraries as well as for Home Farm Trust (now Hft), which runs homes for adults with disabilities – she always had projects on the go including craft fairs, celebrity cricket matches and writing cookery and garden books. All this was in tandem with advocating for her sons’ complex needs throughout their lives.
Jill lived her whole life with enthusiasm, curiosity and empathy. She had an infectious zest for life and was a warm and loving mother, sister, grandmother, godmother, friend and aunt. She was also a talented painter and knowledgable gardener.
Billy died aged 24 and Charlie aged 45, followed within six months by Harry. Jill is survived by me and her granddaughters, Emily and Janie-Rose.
