Abbi, Mark and Sheila helped out the Baby Bank this morning. The first task was to take the box full of Christmas clothing, which had been put aside for the last 10 months, and sort them into the correct boxes for selection for referrals going out in the next couple of months. After all, it's only 75 days to go! After a welcome mug of tea made by Abbi, Mark and Sheila settled down to our usual clothes sorting routine, whilst Abbi had fun with the toys

At the community allotment today, Georgeta and Sheila dismantled the purple beans, which had finished now. The structure was dismantled and the canes stored for re-use. We then joined Abbi who was busy shovelling the soil out of one of the raised beds to eventually make way for a greenhouse. We distributed several barrowloads of soil around three other beds. Great work, everyone!

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

4 Goodgymers helped out at the community allotment on a lovely sunny evening. Jess and Abbi got there early and had done the watering before Sheila arrived. Then it was on to transplanting a couple of currant bushes to their final places, and a blackberry plant into a pot ( with some yummy horse manure mixed in) Our last task was to start filling bags with soil from raised bed 14, as this bed needs to be moved to make way for a greenhouse. We uncovered an acorn and a chocolate digestive biscuit (!), perhaps a squirrel's winter stash, and an item we thought looked like a finger bone but was just a piece of clay, but it led to some interesting conversations! The 21 bags were stored near the temporary compost heap, but still plenty more soil to be emptied

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