Perth, Western Australia January 10, 2004 Home News Down South Impressions This Week Cinema Letters Classifieds Search Submit Real Estate Trades & Services Online Archives Edition List Search AboutUs Contact Us About Us Legal Production Rate Card Readership &  Distribution Subscribe	'I'll give $500 to help childhood museum' Museum of Childhood founder Mary McKenzie is concerned for the future of the collection of old toys. The woman who founded Australia's best collection of historic toys in 1969 has reached into her own pocket after hearing the "very sad" news that the collection is on the verge of being homeless. The Museum of Childhood at Edith Cowan University in Claremont must find a new home within 18 months because the university plans to sell the site as part of its big move to Joondalup. Maylands woman Mary McKenzie said she started the museum, which was then the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere, because of her love of childhood, and because she and her seven siblings grew up simply with no toys. Mrs McKenzie watched it grow, ran it in Subiaco for two years, and even used her own money to buy historic toys and childhood memorabilia for it. She told the POST this week that she and her husband John, a retired teacher trainer, did not have a lot of money but they wanted to offer $500 towards the cost of buying or building a new home for the museum. She hoped others would also be inspired to chip in. "The museum should have its own building in the city, where everybody can enjoy it," she said. The collection has 16,000 objects, dating back to the 1830s, including dolls, tin soldiers, rocking horses, children-sized canoes, prams, model boats and teddy bears. Supporters of the museum say it has amazing potential as a beacon for children's interests and as an exciting place for children to learn through play, as they do at Scitech. The City of Perth wants the museum on the Perth foreshore, near Barrack Square, and has offered $700,000 towards the cost of relocating it. But the relocation would cost about $3 million and, despite the efforts of museum manager Brian Shepherd over the past three years to talk with ministers and grant bodies, the extra money has not been raised. The state government has expressed a preference that part of the collection should be merged with the WA Museum and the rest put in storage. But this would not work, according to children's interests advocate Moira Rayner. Ms Rayner, who is vice-president of the Meerilinga Young Children's Foundation and was the founding director of the Office of Children's Rights in London, said the museum needed its own identity. "I just think it will be lost if it is absorbed into the general museum collection," she said. Ms Rayner said the museum's present location meant it was "nostalgia city" for adults who wanted to reminisce. But, in a more suitable location, it could thrive by engaging children's interest. "A proper museum would have a place where you come in and play and actually experience what it's like to be a kid in a different age," she said. "To me, it would be a place where kids would have the chance to touch things, learn through doing, so it's a living museum." Ms Rayner said the Meerilinga foundation, which advocates for children's interests and helps parents, had sold its Perth premises last month and was looking for a new home. She said it was possible that Meerilinga could relocate with the Museum of Childhood. "Our plans are absolutely flexible at the moment," she said. BACK TO TOP < PREVIOUS - HOME - NEXT> Copyright © 1999 - 2006 Post Newspapers Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.