Right, so Pontypool is open today, guys.
It'll be open tomorrow as well.
He's got quite a few free toys out the front.
So please come down, bring a bag, because we're low on bags.
We're rehoming quite a few toys and some bits and bobs.
There's lots reduced.
Anything that's 350 will now be 50p.
Anything that's a pound, okay?
Everything else then will just be 75% off.
We've got rid of most of the pumpkins.
They've been rehomed for animals and families.
Some other families have taken them just to practice their carving.
I mean, you know, we're happy with that.
They've been re-homed, haven't they?
They haven't gone to landfill.
We have got a small minority trying to make a fuss because a couple of school children stole about 20 and smashed them up.
And the community police dealt with that.
They actually took a trolley.
The big issue lady was handing some out from her position from us, for us as well as a volunteer.
And they actually stole a trolley full.
Shook her up a little bit, because they'd run down the hill and stole a trolley.
So it was pre-meditated.
When it smashed them up, the community police dealt with it, and so did the school.
They told them, you know, not to do that.
It's a shame because we had such lovely children come up and ask us for pumpkins and said that they wouldn't smash them up.
But we had to stop letting anybody take them then.
We had to just let the parents deal with it, you know.
So they've gone.
We've got about 50 left, but I think he might not even have that left now because he's had a lot of interest in the pumpkins this morning.
So I think he's been gone by the time I get into Caerphilly Shop.
Caerphilly Shops have gone, and there's about 15, if not less, in Risca.
And he won't be opening Risca now till next week.
Monday probably.
Then we short staff for two weeks, so we need volunteers in, because we've got somebody moving house, so they need to have a bit of a time off to move house.
So we could do with some volunteers in.
Pumpkins are good to go.
They'll go for at least two to three weeks for human consumption, and then after that I would say animals.
They're good to go.
Absolutely brilliant.
That's the most pumpkins we've ever rehomed.
Like I said, we've got a small minority again.
Same people on the post.
Same people all the time in it, guys.
Get a grip.
Get a grip and get a life.
Try and do something useful for your community today.
Just try once to be happy and smile.
Try that and see if that improves your life.
So we've we've had some news off Sherlock.
Apparently, there's two people going into Blackwood Shop.
One of them is already a known money laundering clothing outlet.
The same Blackwood High Street.
So they're going in there.
So, surprise, surprise!
Probably connected to the landlord.
Probably.
Makes you think, now doesn't it?
Is that another entity?
He obviously didn't get permission for his mortuary.
Frightening.
I did have a little chat with the councillor about it the other day.
And they are fully aware of the situations going on with that landlord.
And it was made more apparent by the way he treated us.
You know, they were like, well what happened there?
So we told him.
And then I don't know the other companies going in there.
So if they are a genuine company, good luck to them.
Because there isn't a lot of football up there.
And then obviously on the website, Sherlock was straight into it.
Less than 24 hours before we were a CIC.
And he was telling people how to report as CIC.
Well, good luck.
That's why we chose CIC.
And the other reason I chose CIC is because I want to reward some of my volunteers with wages and paid employment.
Which I think is, I think is fine.
That's good.
And that's always the step I wanted to go.
Was to actually offer mothers and loyal volunteers a route to employment as well.
Which I spoke about at Big Risca Shop with a Trading Standards Officer one day when she was sent down and ended up going below to Guinea Pig Food.
Because her guinea pigs had had babies and you know gave us some really good advice going forward.
And we had brilliant training.
The staff had free training.
So thank you for sending them.
And that was a recorded conversation that I probably had with her.
About which is the best route to actually employ mothers somewhere down the line.
I don't want a wage.
I'm a free gun.
I'm a frugal person and I don't need the money.
I like to prove that I can you know live for free basically.
Off the land.
I'm just skips.
Whenever you see me I'll be in a bin I'm sure.
You know that's me.
That's just me.
That's my personality.
I like to recycle and repurpose things.
Always have done.
Always will do.
So I'm not looking to take a wage off the baby bank.
And it would be unethical for me to do it anyway.
Because I'm unwell and you'd have to pay me sick pay.
When I have periods of unwellness.
So I wouldn't want to knowingly take honor any employment being ill as I am.
Because it's not fair.
It's not fair on an employer and it's not fair on a charity or it's not fair on a CIC is it to have to pay that.
But yes yeah so that's another route that we're going to be going down.
I think 2026 will be another big year for us.
This has been a big year.
We've had a few unexpected turns but again we rock and roll with it.
And we guys we just crack on and keep plodding on forward.
And then we've had some lovely things just come out of this year.
Like we're doing the pay weekly for mothers which we were not expecting.
We've done some mental health walks.
We started the wrong time of the year.
We haven't done a few over the last week because the rain has been so bad.
But we'll pick it up again now the weather's picking up.
It's nice in the mornings to get out on a on a crisp frosty morning and have a quick walk around you know.
It's nice to do it in the show crunching through the leaves.
It's not so nice when they're wet and they're blowing and they stick to your face because they're because of the rain and everything.
But I'm sure we'll pick it up and then I'm sure sometime in the spring we'll pick it up a bit more.
We'll also have some litter picking equipment with us as well.
You don't have to litter pick.
You can just walk.
But I'm sure we can take it around with us as well.
Because we have seen bits of litter but not had anything with us to pick it up.
So it's all good in it guys.
It's all good.
We're going moving in leaps and bounds again.
We have a setback but we we move on from it.
We learn from our setbacks and it's all about shaping us in the future of where we're going now isn't it.
And see if we can get some funding to help us out with wade houses.
Because once we get a wade house we're gonna need industrial racking again and you know it's we're talking well as much as I try and keep the price down we're still talking big money.
So we need to have access to fuel community funds now and that you know national lottery funds and other stuff.
Which we can do from the very day that we we registered which is brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant.
So that's great.
We might move the accounting over now to an accountant firm rather than my mother doing that.
We might have to I don't have to check into it.
Probably need an accountant to do it.
I'd probably be able to submit our own accounts but it might be easier if we just get an accountant to do it now.
So we are looking for somebody so if any of our mothers out there are accountants and want to take us on as a client that'd be great.
Yes so I'm giving out like I want to we wanted to do the free toys for Christmas and we weren't able to do it because we didn't have the room and we didn't get the wade house that I have my dreams.
So where I was just gonna chuck everything in there and say it's all free take what you like until the new year and we can just sort out setting up the new year.
But we are doing it outside one of the shops so you know that's great and people have taken us up on the free offers.
So we need some more volunteers now to run the shops because obviously we're going to need to be on site with these warehouses when we take them on in the new year.
On site more at the warehouses than the shops.
So and then by taking on the two warehouses additional then that is going to alleviate the pressure on the shops because we'll try and redirect as many donations especially when we give vanfuls to the donation centers because that's the one that sort of fills up the shops isn't it because there's so much to do.
So then you'll have walkers by or people who can only travel to the shops and then when they come to the shops explain to them that we have donation centers to take the pressure off the shops and try and redirect them there.
I mean it you know if somebody lives in the town and they got a pram and they haven't got a car and they haven't got the access to go there then obviously take the donations of the shops in there.
But we won't be doing that till next year so don't worry about it yet.
So we've got a busy two weeks now because we're short staffed so we need volunteers in yeah yeah and now we need to start applying for grants so I might need to take on somebody as a role as a grant manager as well which would be a paid position but obviously I need to get the wages in place first and it'll all be done through PAY and National Insurance Contributions and all the rest so you will be legally employed by Jayne's Baby Bank I'm registered CIC!