At the Baby Bank this morning, Carol and Sheila were set the task of sorting out all the carrier bags which were in a total mess. There were 2 large boxes of bags which needed to be re-sorted and grouped together so that the volunteers can find the bags they need for referrals without getting frustrated. The charity gets through so many bags - in the last 3 months, the Baby Bank has helped 1800 individuals, and much is supplied in bags. We got rid of a whole load of bags that were broken or unsuitable. Order was restored! Meanwhile Mark was sorting through toy donations, followed by a stint on shoes. Carol and Sheila then moved onto sizing all the donated hand-knitted jumpers and hats, and putting them in the correct boxes Fridays are nothing if not varied!

Mark, Abbi, Carol and Sheila all went to help out at the Baby Bank this morning. Our treat for the day was to help transfer all the bags of rejected clothing from upstairs down to the van outside the front door. We formed a human chain, and Abbi got the fun job of rolling the bags down the stairs to another volunteer. I forgot to count the bags, but there were an awful lot of them, and we were all quite exhausted by the time the van drove away. It's sad that we have to reject so many donations because they are not clean or in good enough condition, but at least they are being re-purposed and the Baby Bank received over £200 with which they can buy things like cot mattresses, which need to be given out new. Abbi moved on to sorting out shoe donations, Mark was on school uniform, Carol was on clothes donations, and Sheila was on final checking and putting together referral packs. A very busy morning, but productive

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!