4 GoodGymers helped out at the Baby Bank this morning. Our first task was to unpack and store 25 staircases which had been delivered that morning. Once these had all been neatly packed away, we moved upstairs. Karen and Sheila K did secondary checking and putting away of donations that had already been checked once by a corporate team. Meanwhile Carol and Sheila A were let loose in the uniform room. At this time of year we get so many requests for school uniform, so we made a start on some of the requests. We quickly had to get up to speed with the colour requirements of all the different schools (why do so many still require logo-ed items???). And questions such as, what is the chest size of an average 10-year old? Unfortunately we could not fulfil all requested items, but anything we can provide will be a great help to families who can not afford such an outlay

Karen and Sheila were on throwing -out duty today at Braywick Heath Nurseries. It was out with all the annuals which were past their prime and could not be sold We managed to save some which still looked in good condition - hopefully they will be found a nice new home. The rest will benefit the compost heap!

Karen went to Braywick Heath nurseries and spent the morning filling six packs (the pots, not the toned muscles!) with compost in preparation for the autumn plug plants being delivered. Working with one of the employees, they filled several hundred trays which are now ready to be planted up. Happily there was a large fan in place to keep them cool as they worked.

It was business as usual at the Baby Bank this morning, and Carol, Karen and Sheila got straight down to work with our favourite task of clothes sorting! Looking out especially for girls clothing for 4- 6 year olds as these seem to be in short supply. Sheila came across a large bag of donated dresses which had all been hand-made from the most fabulous fabrics They were labelled as 'Dress a Girl Around the World'. A quick Google revealed that this organisation provides new dresses to families in poverty in various countries around the world. We were so pleased that someone decided to donate some to UK families as well and are in awe of their sewing skills

Karen and Sheila helped out at Braywick Heath Plant Nursery and were given the sad task of disposing of plants which hadn't been sold and which had succumbed to heat/dehydration/old age. We pulled out the plant labels to be used again, emptied out the pots and took all the dead plants to the compost heap. We consoled ourselves with the fact that at least they would be turned into compost and used to grow fresh plants next spring.