Baby Got Bank

Carol, Rach and I kicked off a cold February morning by helping out at Leeds Baby Bank.

After a slightly eventful train journey, which included a friendly dog called Angus, Rach and I met Carol at Leeds Baby Bank. We were greeted by Jackie, who showed us the enormous piles of clothes to be sorted and we quickly got stuck in.

The clothes needed to be sorted into boxes according to their size and what they were. After a little bit of discussion about what the difference between a vest, a babygrow, a sleepsuit and a romper was (I'm still not entirely sure, is this something that you magically learn when you have children?), we got into the swing of things.

My bag mainly contained boys clothes for babies aged 6 to 9 months, whereas Rach and Carol were sorting clothes for older babies, so moved round to the other side of the shelves. After a few moments, I heard some excited screams. When I went to investigate, it turned out Rach had found an incredible Woody outfit. Unfortunately, it was just slightly too small for her, so into the box it went. I hope it brings as much joy to the family it is donated too! Carol did find some trousers for an extremely large baby, might need to shrink those ones in the wash.

"I'm just so broody now. We need someone to have a GoodGym baby!" Carol, before we decided that Jasper the dog would do for now...

Many more squeals about tiny clothes ensued, and we slowly made our way through the bags. It felt like we'd barely scratched the surface of the mountain of donations, but we'd definitely made a difference. We'll have to go back again to finish the job.

Just before we were ready to leave, a woman who had been referred to the baby bank arrived to collect the things she needed. She seemed a little overwhelmed by the huge bags of clothes, toys, and a highchair. As she was juggling a toddler in a buggy, Rach and I helped by carrying her new baby things out to her taxi. She was also happy to find out she's been added to the waiting list for a cot and a double buggy. She is one of hundreds of women who receive from the baby bank, and it was great to meet someone who they were helping.

We then headed back inside to empty the last few bits from the bags we were sorting. We said goodbye before Carol jetted off to Madrid for the weekend, and Rach and I headed back to the equally glamorous location of East Leeds. I'm sure we'll all sleep like babies tonight...