Day6 - and lots of new faces

The drivers might have been resting today as there were no scheduled collections, but they were the only ones. The trainers, checkers, cartonners and goods-in crews were all hard at work as another 980 boxes were cartonned and ready to go. The warehouse was buzzing once again with all the activity.

Daryl & Wendy 

Lots of today's volunteers work full time during the week so this is their chance to come and be part of the process. Two such volunteers are Daryl and Wendy Palmer. They've been doing boxes for 8 years or more but have always dropped them off either with Wendy's Mum in Essex or at a local church. Now inspired by their friends Jenny and Heather, they came along for the first time today. They were impressed by the organisation and care taken in the warehouse and now more fully appreciate the importance of packing a shoebox with just the right things. For them, like many others, it's the realisation that a simple gift is making a huge difference to a child's life that encourages them to continue. Also, like many others, one day at the warehouse just isn't enough - so I think we'll be seeing both Daryl and Wendy next Saturday too!

The many uses of a video box

Today's filler idea may answer the question of what to do with all those redundant video tapes, now that we are truly in the digital age. Well, unfortunately, we can't use the actual tape but the box could become a container for many different things such as a stationery set, a jigsaw or a craft kit. The boxes can be decorated with christmas cards or stickers, and are so practical and long lasting that the child will have a useful box for many months to come.


There were some other lovely items included in the boxes today, some were rather large and you wouldn't have expected them to fit in, but with clever packing, train sets, doll's tea sets and even mini gardening sets were included with all the other requisite items too. Sometimes, it just requires a bit of lateral thinking!

And Ted? - well today was Carolyn's day off so Ted decided he could step in, and was found busy on the phone at the admin desk. Nice try Ted, but Carolyn's back on Monday, so we won't be needing you there.

See you on Monday for Week 2!