VOLUNTEERS!

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2018, babies, baby, carriers, children, natural parenting, parenthood, parents, Q&A, September, sling library, sling library appreciation month 2018, sling meet, slings, toddler, volunteering, volunteers, wraps

It’s week two of Sling Library Appreciation Month 2018, and this week the spotlight is on Volunteers.

Our Library is actually entirely run by volunteers- including the co-owners, so this week we’ve posting something from the volunteer point of view.

Here’s what a few of our wonderful selfless volunteers had to say……

~Jay~

J

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

Since the beginning. I had tried to make contact with the old Bracknell sling library that wasn’t in existence anymore. Then Gemma and Clare stepped up and created the new Bracknell sling meet.

What training have you received?

Peer support training.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

Helping with fitting slings, talking to new praents, helping with events, baking cakes and biscuits for events and sharing social media posts created by others.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Trying all the new slings, helping mums and dads find the right slings for them and the friendships made over the years with other volunteers and parents who come along.

 

~Ruth~

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

About two years- although I’m rarely there these days due to having got a new job with the fab reference that the Sling Library gave me!

What training have you received?

I’ve had no formal training but ample opportunity to watch the rest of the team demonstrating stuff, and have a go with my children/ the dolls where it’s felt necessary.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

Turn up to sling meet, set up, help parents choose/ practice with the slings, tidy up.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Being able to help new parents to access the world of slings which meant so much to me when my children were small- the freedom to go where and when I pleased regardless of steps and naptime, to hold your baby close when they are poorly, to hold your child close and still make tea, to be able to welcome a new baby and hold your toddler and new baby safely at the same time when needed, to offer my school child some close time after a difficult morning to make parting that bit easier.

 

~Gemma~

Tula Baby (rockets)

Shire Slings Pagan Goddess Size 3

Yaro Turtle Size 5

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

I have been involved since it’s inception, a crazy Facebook Messenger conversation in January 2015 resulted in a cup of tea with a complete stranger. What did happen was the creation of a local Sling meeting into a meagre Sling Library. That stranger Clare is one of my closest friends now and our library has grown so much, but only with the help and dedication of a lot of people along the way.

What training have you received?

From the start YouTube videos, and like-minded friends influenced my skills and abilities. Lots of getting things wrong myself. As the Sling Library grew, we identified that more formal training was beneficial. Peer support training was completed and I considered looking towards a consultancy course. With a full time day/night job and a growing toddler, I soon realised that both myself and our library wouldn’t benefit from this expensive addition.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

All of them: setting up the room, assisting with customers, clean down of the room after a session… Social media- but Clare is the queen here. Finances but without Jenny our maths wouldn’t work despite my grade A GCSE- spreadsheets are not my cup of tea! Enforcement of “lost slings”, purchasing new slings and the sales of retired carriers. Also arranging social events with volunteers. I would highlight that none of the jobs are done by any one person, it’s very much a team game.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Easy answer- tiny baby cuddles. Oh and friends- my friendship group has always been very small. I think it’s doubled since being involved in Bracknell Sling Library and I wouldn’t be without a single one of our volunteers, and the people that have helped us along the way.

 

~Caroline~

Traditional Chinese Meh Dai

Lenny Lamb Buckles (neutral sand)

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

Since 2015. I initially came to hang out when my little one was tiny, then eventually volunteered.

What training have you received?

I am a peer supporter which involved completing training on giving advice and using the common types of slings. I’ve also watched many a you tube tutorial for different carries with woven wraps if that counts!

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

At the moment, I do occasional behind the scenes support as I am now working on Fridays and unable to give face to face support.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

My favourite thing about volunteering with the sling library is all the friends I have made along the way. I love to spread a bit of the slingy love and help other parents/carers either practically or by sharing the same friendship & support network.

~Clare~

How long have you been involved with Bracknell Sling Library?

From day one! Gemma and I had been talking in the previous social slingmeet up group on facebook and decided together it would be wonderful to have a go at setting up a library. Little did we know how much work would go in and what kind of success we might see over the years.

What training have you received?

We arrange regular peer support training for our volunteers, including ourselves and are currently looking at CPD. There are lots of new slings on the market, so in an addition, we make an effort to keep up to date with what’s available, what’s popular and so on. I’ve also undertaken a Futurelearn course “Babies in Mind” to look at attachment theory during the perinatal period.

What kind of jobs do you do for the Library?

I am involved in numerous aspects of the library- stock take, banking, laundry, paperwork, advice, fit and hire, emails, social media, design work, photography, event organisation, room booking, charity events, volunteer recruitment, booking training, volunteer welfare….. the list goes on! All the volunteers pitch in with whatever their skills are to ensure that the library runs smoothly.

What’s your favourite thing about volunteering with the Library?

Sometimes it’s exhausting running a library alongside raising a family and working part time… however, it’s completely worth it. The comments we get from customers about how much slings have changed their lives, how grateful they are and how affordable and accessible the service is… it makes it all worth while. It’s also great to work alongside such a wonderful bunch of likeminded people- I’ve made so many great friends.

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A day in the life of a Sling Librarian…. #2!

Tags

"a day in the life of", 2018, our process, photos, September, sling, sling library, sling library appreciation month 2018, sling meet, sling support superheroes, slingmeet, volunteers, what we do

Just under two years ago, I wrote this post about “A day in the life of a Sling Librarian”- to show you all what we get up to.

This month is Sling Library Appreciation Month– a new awareness raising and celebration month to promote what Sling Libraries do, how they work, how they help families and much more.

Week one happens to be “A day in the life of a Sling Librarian”, so I thought it might be time to write another blog post about what it is we do!

 

How we operate:

Bracknell Sling Library is co-owned by Clare & Gemma- here’s a photo of our best sides.

Gemma & G

Clare & R

We’re local working parents who run the library in our “spare time” with the help of around 10 active volunteers who do a range of different jobs to assist us keeping the library running. We are an unincorporated association, with a constitution, a bank account and AGM meetings to make the bigger decisions about how we run.

Here’s a few of our super volunteers (some have sneakily avoided photos!):

A

C

Z

J

J

L

K

R

 

We have a library session every fortnight for 90 mins (every other Friday 12:30-2 if you’re interested in popping along). Whilst 3 hours a month doesn’t sound like much, I’m sure you can imagine that a lot more work goes in than that!

 

Social Media:

Like many sling libraries, social media is our main tool to spread the word of what services we offer.

We have a facebook page which is public facing (which can be found here) and in addition we have a closed “chat” group (you can request membership here). Both these take some management from keeping on top of local, national and international campaigns and information, to moderating discussion, second hand sales, library session information and general chit chat about carriers. We also have this blog which we try to keep up to date with relevant information, and an email account where most our enquiries end up.

 

Library Stock:

We take regular stock takes to ensure that we know where all our slings are, to check for damage, cleaning needs, general wear and tear and alongside that we try to keep abreast of the market. New slings come onto the market regularly, and we always want our stock to accurately reflect what is currently available in the shops, and what is popular. As a consequence, last year we retired 14 of our carriers and purchased 21 new carriers. The stock currently stands at 106, which has fluctuated a lot over the past 3.5 years that the library has been running. It started with a very small selection and as the hire money came in, we were able to afford to buy a few more bits.

March 2015:

September 2018:

 

Accounting:

Speaking of buying new stock- one of our very important jobs is keeping track of all our finances. We are very lucky that we have a super deal on our room hire and so our outgoings are very low: room hire, training, stock and insurance are our main outgoings. With the help of one of our brill volunteers Jenny, we have a great google docs system in place that the three of us can access. We keep a float for the library session and count everything in and out. Everything is accounted for- from donations, to sling purchases to out of hours returns fees. We try to keep things as simple as possible but accountable, so keeping track of our finances takes a significant amount of volunteer time.

After each sling meet we count up the cash and record it on our spreadsheet (ensuring that it adds up to what it should). We then prepare the float for the next session, check if we need change or to deposit some cash at the bank and carry out those tasks. We also have to pay the invoices for our room hire, check our paypal payments, follow up invoices for purchases etc.

 

Volunteer recruitment, training and management:

We are run entirely by volunteers, and the recruitment, training, CPD and management of staffing the library sessions is an ongoing task. We check regularly which volunteers are available for upcoming meets (bar illness etc), ensure they have appropriate training available to them and generally keep in communication.

We are always looking for new volunteers as many of ours move on when their children reach school age, or sometimes they up or change their work hours or even get a new job which means they can’t help any more. We couldn’t run without our volunteers, so we urge you to get in touch if you might be interested in helping out.

 

Promotional materials:

Whilst most of our promo and comms is done via social media, we also have to ensure we have a presence elsewhere. Recently we purchased a couple of pull up banners, and we have logo-ed material such as flyers for events we attend.

Our new banners

C&J with the banner

 

Paperwork:

The paperwork is a bit boring but also important. Before sling meet we need to ensure that we have enough hire forms, Terms and Conditions and TICKS safety guidelines. We also have a list of the slings due back (all the customers receive an email reminder too), and we’ll need a new cover sheet where we record all slings that go on hire that meet.

To comply with GDPR we try to not keep anyone’s personal details uneccessarily, and so we have a system where our paperwork is stored in a locked file store and only the three admins have access to any personal data.

Some of our (non trained) volunteers

Paperwork

 

After each sling meet we check the hire forms are complete and check the cover sheet is correct. Then we add any new names to our GDPR compliant database, and see if there’s any overdue slings. We contact each of the customers to let them know their sling is overdue and communicate the options (rehire/ our of hours return) and follow up over the proceeding week updating the paperwork to reflect the outcome. We also transfer all the new hires onto our “due back” sheets for the upcoming sling meets.

 

Out of Hours hires:

We try to be flexible to the modern working parent- turns out not everyone is free 12:30-2pm on a Friday- who would have thought! We do offer out of hours hires/ returns where we can facilitate, and whilst sometimes we go months without, we often find that just before the school holidays there’s a deluge of these and we can do 2-3 a week. It can be tricky to fit in around work and parenting but we find out customers are very understanding and it all tends to work out in the end!

 

Chasing lost slings:

I’ve slipped this in the middle as this is our least favourite job by far. Whilst we always send reminder emails that slings are due back, it’s not fun when we completely loose communication from a customer. Whether they’re embarrassed that they don’t have the rehire fee, forgot to bring it back, lost it or have something much more complex going on in their lives, all we ask from our customers is that they’re honest and stay in touch. We have only had to seriously follow up on two “lost” slings over the past 3.5 years and the hours of admin time and stress that caused was significant. We’re a very understanding and kind bunch, we just don’t take kindly to people lying. We run this out of the goodness of our hearts and are here to help.

 

Parties:

Back to a more positive note! We have run a number of parties over the years- notably birthday parties to celebrate another successful year of Bracknell Sling Library, and summer or Christmas parties. These are a HUGE job to organise- getting vendors along and creating floor plans, organising a photographer, collecting prizes for and then running a raffle, advertising the event and getting people to come along- through to organising the happy chaos on the day. We’ve raised over £680 for charity over the past two years- now THAT’S something we’re proud of!

dav

dav

dav

 

OTHER:

Goodness what else? Sometimes it feels never ending!

Sometimes we attend events for other organisations- i.e Calmwaves Hynobirthing have invited us to their summer parties to have a stall. We need to arrange our insurance, field enquiries, think about how we manage our money (do we need a card reader, can we accept cheques etc), field emails from manufacturers, retailers and customers… the list goes on. We have quieter weeks and busier weeks. We all appreciate that volunteering is exactly that- home life & paid work come first, and the wonderful work all our volunteers do is in their own time and is much appreciated.

 

So what about this DAY IN THE LIFE OF?

Well- we may operate a bit differently to other libraries, some of whom also retail slings or run paid consultancy work alongside their library sessions so it’s possible our view is a little different. But sling library day looks like this:

• Check over paperwork/ chase slings due back/ send emails/ check stock
• Arrive at the venue, greet other volunteers & set up chairs and tables, plus toys for the children and get the stock, paperwork and pull up banners out.
• Chat to volunteers about any special events coming up/ new slings training
• Customers arrive- hurrah! Whirlwind 90 minutes of demonstrating, adjusting & fitting,  then filling out the relevant paperwork and taking payments.
• Tidy up time! All hands to deck to get tidied up before the volunteers often have to go and pick their own children up from school or childcare.
• Come home and count money (cross fingers it all adds up).
• Check over all paperwork & chase up any non-returned items
• Sort float, change & bank trips. Print out extra paperwork
• Field enquiries, post on social media & chase up any overdue items. Arrange out of hours returns and collections.
• Glass of wine and early bed!

 

Catch up

Tags

2015, baby toddler, baby wearing, babywearing, Berkshire, blog posts, blogging, Born To Carry, Bracknell, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, Little Ardvark Bookstore, oscha, photo, practice, September, sling library, Sophie, tandem wrap, training, volunteers, weighted dolls, wrap

Hi all, sorry it’s been a quiet month or so.

Sling Meet

Sling meet has been going really well and the library is blooming! The admins had a weekend of sorting out finances to ensure everything adds up and to look at future costs. We are getting upwards of 8-10 hires each fortnight, so we will be needing to stock up on a few more carriers soon.

Busy sling meet

At our last meet we had the lovely Lou who runs Little Aardvark Bookstore come along with some of her beautiful books for sale. Check our her facebook page and take a look at the wonderful range of books she has for all ages.

Volunteers

We now have a number of volunteers and the librarians trained up by Born To Carry as Babywearing Peer Supporters, by the lovely Sophie Messager who travelled down from Cambridgeshire to run a course for us in July.

Some of our (non trained) volunteers

Weighted Demo Dolls

We have also acquired a slightly terrifying weighted babywearing doll. These are really handy for expectant parents to try their hand at wrapping, for parents who come to sling meet but their babies sleep for the whole session or even those who just want to practice on a doll first. It’s about the size and weight of a 2 month old baby, which makes it very hard to practice back wrapping with, but it’s a really invaluable addition to our library!

I’m sure the outfit I chose didn’t help!

Pixie from Newbury Sling Library sourced the dolls at a wonderful discount price, and Bracknell Sling Library helped disseminate them to all our neighbours who purchased them. This meant we got to play with them for a while which was fun. Clare even had a go at tandem wearing with her size six Ocha wrap with two of the dolls together (apologies for the workout gear!).

Our doll has just been named “Pippin” after a competition within the group, and he’s looking for a new and less scary outfit!

Coming Up

Looking forwards to our next Guest Q&A blog- keep your eyes peeled for this one! Babywearing Royalty!

Taste of sling meet

Tags

2015, babies, baby wearing, babywearing, Berkshire, blog posts, Bracknell, Bracknell Sling Library, Bracknell Sling Meet, carriers, July, natural parenting, sling, sling library, sling meet, slingmeet, slings, volunteers, what goes into a sling meet, wrap, wraps

What goes into a sling meet? I’ll try to talk you through this week!

Around 11:30am Clare double checked the stock and paperwork. Gemma printed some more hire forms, TICKS guidelines and terms & conditions of hire and she arrived early to set up before heading off to work. Clare and volunteer Jay arrived early to finish setting up the room. Lindsey who runs Newbury sling library also came along to help, bringing two weighed dolls and a selection of her slings and wraps.

Just after 1pm the parents started arriving. There were 7 slings due back (6 of which arrived, one being picked up tonight) so they were checked over and signed back in whilst each hirer was asked how they got on with the sling and were given advice about what might suit them based on their experience and preference. Jay reluctantly returned the hop the which she loved, and Gemma R wanted to try something new having loved the Storchenweige half buckle. Some new people came along too so they were asked if they’d used any slings before, how old their baby was and what kind of use they wanted to get out of the slings before getting more  specific assistance.

Gemma R helped her cousins’ friend with a stretchy wrap for her young baby whilst Clare helped Jenny with her Manduca for Jenny’s 22 month old toddler. Lindsey showed a number of mummies how to use ringslings whilst Caroline and Clare demoed and helped a few mummies try wrapping for the first time with a front wrap cross carry and talked size, blend and different carries.

Between 1 and 2:45 (ran over a bit!) There were 6 hires including one longer length hire to cover a holiday plus Caroline borrowed some sling rings to try with her new size two wrap and Melanie hired both a wrap and the smaller baby zip in insert for her Manduca.

It took a while to clear up and get all the tables and chairs away but it was all done and dusted by about 3:15.

After getting home, Clare double checked the finances to ensure that they tallied up with what we were expecting as per the paperwork (phew they did) and then sat down with a cup of tea and a biscuit! Though she’ll be heading it later to pick up the last sling due back.

So if we mix up the names-  Gemma usually looks after the stock and finances and we have a mix of different volunteers helping out each week- this is pretty standard. Bracknell sling meet  runs once every two weeks and is entirely not-for-profit. It’s a community affair and run entirely by volunteers!