Banbury volunteers offering free cloth nappy trial kits

Two volunteers offering reusable cloth nappies on loan or free trial kits to parents in the Banbury area have seen a large increase in demand.
Zoe Wilson from Wigginton runs a reusable nappy bank. She is pictured with her children, Sebastian and Toby, right. NNL-180409-124550009Zoe Wilson from Wigginton runs a reusable nappy bank. She is pictured with her children, Sebastian and Toby, right. NNL-180409-124550009
Zoe Wilson from Wigginton runs a reusable nappy bank. She is pictured with her children, Sebastian and Toby, right. NNL-180409-124550009

Nappy Bank has seen a 50 per cent increase in requests compared with last year with the organisers believing more parents are seeing the economic and environmental benefits of reusable diapers.

The trial kits, which include ten cloth nappies, a bucket and accessories like reusable wipes, are free to anyone in Oxfordshire thanks to support from Oxfordshire County Council, but people in the surrounding counties have to pay.

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Zoe Wilson, who runs the service from her Wigginton home, said: “Nappies have changed so much, even over the last decade, and certainly people are catching on now that it’s really easy and with the Bank it can be affordable.”

The free trial means unsure parents can try the reusable nappies before they buy any, as well as seeing which type suits their child, and if they want to continue, they can either purchase their own or loan them from the Bank.

Zoe said in the last quarter, two-thirds of parents who used the trial carried on with cloth nappies which she said is ‘fantastic’, as more and more are realising the idea of washing them is not that scary and can save a lot of money and waste.

Two of Zoe’s friends have been encouraged to give the cloth nappies to go – both had an initial apprehension about having to wash what can be a pretty messy item to say the least.

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But they both wish they had started using them sooner as they realised it is not that disgusting, they do not cause that many extra washing machine uses and it saves money.

Zoe runs the Nappy Bank with Lauren Eaves, whose Banbury home allows parents who cannot travel to Wigginton to still have a consultation with the pair about reusable nappies.

“I like to spend time with families as we want them to succeed and get the best out of their kits as people usually have lots of questions and they often stay for an hour and a half or longer,” she said.

The steep rise in demand means Zoe has had to increase her stock – the amount of kits have doubled to six – plus she is having to cater for toddlers and newborns.

While Banbury is her biggest area of interest, Zoe said she is also seeing requests from as far as Bicester and Northamptonshire.

For more from Nappy Bank, email [email protected]