Abbi, Carol, Mark and Sheila all helped out at the Baby Bank this morning. There was a steady stream of donations coming in, after a Facebook appeal for certain items, so we had our work cut out just keeping the entrance hall clear and moving donations to the correct place. Mark, Sheila and Carol moved on to sort out the toy donations, making sure they were all in good condition, clean and suitable for handing out. We also helped Lainey find appropriate toys and books for a family of 3 boys. Abbi moved on to sorting out school uniform which is in high demand at the moment. It was great to have so many volunteers at this busy time of year

Carol, Angela and Sheila gathered at the Baby Bank to help out. Our task was to sort through all the bags of clothes waiting to be sorted, and record what ages of child each bag was for. At present, they are not accepting any clothes donations until the ones we have are properly sorted. But we need to know which ones we are short of, so we can appeal for those. We pulled all the boy's 2+ donations out of the cot, and recorded the ages as we put them back in again. Then we moved on to look at what we had in the overflow bags in a separate area, tidied up and consolidated bags, making them easier to find. Turns out we have plenty of boys' clothing, but are short of stuff for teenagers. We were then asked to put together an emergency referral for a 1-year old boy and a 3-year old girl, including some toys. And lastly some shoe-sorting. A busy morning!

Regulars Mark and Sheila welcomed Abbi for her first session at the Baby Bank. And she was really thrown into the deep-end. We began by clearing the entrance hall which was piled high with donations. The Baby Bank has been inundated with requests for school uniform, and with only 4 days to go before the start of term, the pressure was on! Mark and Sheila moved up stairs to sort school uniform donations, while Abbi continued downstairs, manning the door to a constant stream of clients, and putting stuff away She even gave downstairs a good hoover - Lauren, our taskowner, was delighted and said she is welcome back any time! Well done to everyone for dealing with such a manic morning!

Jess and Sheila helped out at the Baby Bank this morning. They have had to call a halt to clothes donations as they have been inundated over the holiday period. What tasks did we have today? Well allsorts, really. We sorted clothes, put together packs of clothes and toys for families, put away donated baby formula and nappies, answered the door for donations and collections, emptied the bins and did the washing up. Phew!

Sheila and Jess were put straight to work when they arrived at the Baby Bank this morning, putting together toy packs for children. Luckily we were given an idea of the sorts of things they liked, although whether we had them available was a different matter! While Sheila put clothes together for 18-month old twin girls, Jess was put on door duty, accepting donations and finding referral packs which were being collected. A busy morning and a good contributor to our daily steps tally!

Carol, Katie and Sheila helped out at the Baby Bank the day before it closed for a week to give the staff a well-earned break. Katie sorted through the food, making sure it was all well within its sell-by date, moving on to tidy the piles of nappies which had gone critical. Carol was upstairs sorting clothes, while Sheila was on door-answering duty with a spot of bedding-sorting when time allowed. We were all kept very busy, with lots of donations coming in, and many referrals being collected too.