The Baby Bank has put all clothes donations on hold while they process what they have and take stock of what they need. Some age ranges are overflowing whilst others are empty. The task for the 3 GoodGymers alongside other volunteers, was to speed-sort all the donations we had and to transfer them to the boxes so that Rebecca could create a list of what we need, and what we have plenty of.We were ruthless in our sorting, and by the end of the session had got through most of the backlog. Well done team!

Karen, Sheila K, Sheila A and Jane helped out at the Baby Bank on another busy morning. As we arrived, the facility was receiving a van-load of buggies which had been abandoned at the airport. Our task was to give them a clean and leave them to dry in the sun. We made short work of it and were rewarded with an indoor job, picking out new toys for 10 children to accompany their Christmas pyjama packs. Karen and Sheila K then earned massive numbers of Brownie points by between them making teas and coffees for the volunteers and doing the washing up afterwards. The remainder of the time was spent putting together clothes and toys for specific referrals. A very productive morning!

Sheila K and Karen attended the Baby Bank today on the regular Friday slot. They helped unload some donations from cars and sort donations of Christmas gift bags containing new pyjamas, a book and a selection box which will be given out to needy children next month. Sheila helped take the bags of unwanted clothes down to a van for recycling before joining Karen doing the second checks of donated clothing.

The two Sheilas made their way to the Baby Bank for another busy morning of clothes sorting. Despite the facility not accepting clothes donations at the moment, there is still a huge backlog to be sorted and tidied away. Towards the end of the session, Clean Conscience turned up with a pallet-full of clothing returns. Instead of taking returns back from customers, an organic clothing company gives them away to charity. A real eye-opener into the workings of online companies. Great for the Baby Bank, but the items are still in their packaging and we needed to find space to store it all until it can be sorted. The boxes and packages were transported upstairs and crammed into travel cots and sacks and put into all the spare spaces that we could find. And then half an hour later another pallet-load arrived. We were exhausted!

🦸‍♀️ Six litter-picking superheroes assembled at the community centre, ready to take on the challenge of tidying up the streets and parks of Maidenhead.

Armed with picks and hoops, we set off towards the station—a gentle stroll to warm up our eyes for the litter lurking ahead. From the station, we swooped into the High Street, scooping up mountains of cigarette butts and rogue takeaway cups.

Tony and Mike veered off down a side-street, while Sheila, Sarah, Jess, and Viv took the more direct route. Everyone found a few treasures, but the general consensus? The town centre was looking far tidier than on previous missions.

We were met with cheerful “Thank you!”s from passers-by, and even roped in a spontaneous participant for a race to a paper cup. He won—and his prize? The honour of binning it himself!

With the town centre sparkling, we ventured into Kidwells Park. Here, the litter was more plentiful, and our bags filled up fast. After an hour of heroic effort, we regrouped at the community centre to compare hauls and swap stories.

A job well done—and a wonderfully chatty, cheerful task to boot!