Day1 - We're off and 800 cartonned at end of play

The warehouse got off to a flying start today as over 30 volunteers arrived to begin checking the boxes. After a brief refresher training session, the volunteers got to work and it wasnt long before the first filled carton was sealed - not surprisingly it was a carton of 5-9 girls boxes!

    Busy checking

The 1st of many !

Shortly after,  the vans arrived, one of which had collected a pallet of toothpaste, kindly donated by GlaxoSmithKline. This was a wonderful donation as we will be able to share some of this toothpaste with other warehouses in the area who may not have sufficient for the campaign. Fortunately Mike and John were on hand to offload the boxes!



Back at the tables, there was an unusual gift of an egg timer in a box, and the inside of a lid that had been lovingly decorated by the donor.  Whereas behind the scenes all the donated filler items were being sorted ready to go out.


And it's not just the ladies who have been making these fillers - Michael Grew has been busy in his workshop making wooden toys for the boxes. From puzzles to puppets, he has made over 120 that will definitely find good homes through the boxes. These are really lovely gifts.

wooden puzzles

The hand made puppets are amazing

So where has Ted been throughout the day?????? Well, he found the trolleys that have been generously loaned by Sainsbury's and Homebase. They will definitely save our legs this year - as you may have noticed the warehouse is rather large!




As ever it's difficult to include all the photos from today. If you want to look at the others, please click on the link.
https://picasaweb.google.com/103588759400401245450/November142011#

See you tomorrow!

Britain in a Day at the warehouse

The team may have been busy setting up the warehouse ready for the boxes on Monday, but they took time out to record their thoughts and feelings for the BBC's Britian in a Day initiative.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00kqz5p

Jenny talking to camera

Maureen Grew, Carolyn Gercke, Jenny Winter and Kate Loveless, each recorded a short video clip that has been uploaded onto the Britain in a Day Youtube site. You never know you may yet see them on the final film, played before the Olympics!

Kate & Chris captured whilst sharpening pencils

On your marks....!

The Team and Teddy prepare to set up

There was definitely a sense of "On your marks....!" last night as the team gathered to talk about setting up the warehouse on Friday with the tables, chairs, posters, fillers and of course the already collected boxes.

  

Carolyn shared a proposed layout of the warehouse and explained how the "flow" of unchecked boxes through to filled cartons will work. There's certainly not going to be any lack of space this year - in fact the team may need walkies talkies and roller skates to communicate and get around easily!

The trolleys that have been loaned by Tesco previously would definitely be a benefit and the team are thinking of asking Homebase for the loan of a couple of their flat bed trolleys. The more the merrier!

The Team with the warehouse plan

Debbie then talked about this blog and appealed for stories and pictures as they are available during the campaign. She also talked about the BBC's Britain in a Day event and suggested that the team could be involved and make a film around the set up process.

After all the general notices and information from Carolyn, Celia closed the meeting in prayer.

The team will meet again at the warehouse!!!

The Warehouse is confirmed

Drum roll please...... the location of this year's warehouse has been confirmed !!!

As last year's warehouse was no longer available, the search was on to find a different location somewhere within the Guildford/Godalming area. A site was identified and after approval from Head Office it was confirmed.
For those of you who knew last year's warehouse, this one is bigger, much bigger, in fact maybe 5 times bigger! It's been suggested that we'll need a golf buggy to get from one side to the other - well at least we'll all get fit :-)

So here are the details     
     Wurth House, Cattershall Lane, Godalming, GU7 1NP

If you are approaching from Guildford towards Godalming, go past the crematorium and the lake, turn left after the Esso garage and follow the road round, the warehouse is on the right. Here's a preview.

We'll be there from
Mon 14th Nov - Fri 2nd Dec    9:30am - 4:00pm
Saturday 19th & 26th Nov      10:00am - 3:00pm

So come one, come all, come and join us  -- just wear comfy shoes!