Stepping into headquarters of Roundabout Canberra in an old primary school in Holt, it's obvious some very organised mums have been at work.
There are tubs and tubs of clothing, cleaned and ironed and arranged in sizes; toys scrubbed and sorted; prams and cots and car seats lined up, looking good as new.
The Canberra charity was founded by former public servant Hannah Andrevski when she was on maternity leave in 2017. It accepts donations of used items for children and babies and ensures the very best get to families in need.
"The first year we helped 350 kids. This year we'll probably help 3000 children," she said.
"There's been a lot of growth in demand for the service. I never, ever could have imagined this. As a Canberran, I never really envisaged the need in the community. I had no idea how many families and children need support."
Volunteers gather at the Holt HQ to sort, clean, check and prepare donations to go to families. It's also where members of the public can drop off items.
"We're now working with 101 services who place orders with us whenever they're working with a family that needs stuff for their children," Hannah said.
"So public hospitals, women's refuges, domestic violence services, migrant and refugee support services, a whole range of services.
"So whenever they are working with a family, they place an order for what that particular family needs. For some, it might be a box of clothes. For others, it might be everything you need for five children. It varies."
Like many families, Hannah wanted to pass on items that were no longer used by her children.
"I think when you have children you get so much stuff and I had so many people who were generous to me and I had far more than I could possibly use. Babies grow out of clothes so quickly, as well," she said.
"And back at the end of 2017 there just wasn't an easy way to pass stuff on and know that it was going directly to a family who needed things.
"With some Google-ing, I found other charities who do what we now do and thought something like that could work here."
Many charities do not accept items such as prams or cots or car seats. Roundabout does.
"We take all of that and that makes us unique," Hannah said.
"We take cots, prams, car seats, high chairs, bassinets. We safety-check all items that have mandatory safety standards as well as some that don't. A bassinette doesn't actually have a safety standard so we go above and beyond and safety check that. And where we don't take things, it's items not recommended by organisations such as Red Nose or Kidsafe. Quality and safety is a really big thing for us."
In its first years, Roundabout was entirely volunteer-run. It now has 250 volunteers and eight employees, managed with the help of grants and donations.
Roundabout has no contact with the families who receive the items.
"We get some information about the families we're helping and we get some lovely feedback, which is anonymous," Hannah said.
"But everything is done through the social services and we do that very deliberately. We know that it can be embarrassing for people to ask for help. And if they've already got a relationship with the service, it's nice for them to continue that.
"And also we know if people need material support for their children, they probably require other support as well."
Hannah, who left her job in the public service this year to concentrate on Roundabout, believes the need for the service, will only grow as the cost of living continues to rise.
"We hear a lot of stories from social workers that clients are having to choose between buying clothes for their children, getting a car seat, or paying their rent, their food, their petrol," she said.
"By us giving them these items, it frees up some money they can direct to other very essential things."
And this is where you can help. Especially if you love LEGO.
The Green Shed's Giant Charity LEGO Sale is on Wednesday from 6pm to 9pm at the Albert Hall - and Roundabout is this year's beneficiary.
The catch was Roundabout staff and volunteers helped to sort the two tonne of loose LEGO and 800 box sets which will be for sale.
"That's been a big job but a lot of fun," Hannah said.
- The Green Shed's Giant Charity LEGO sale is 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday at the Albert Hall, all proceeds to Roundabout Canberra.
- Roundabout is also looking for specific items - cots, prams, car seats and clothing for older children. Back-to-school items such as backpacks, water bottles, lunch boxes and stationery is also required. Drop off is at the Holt Community Hub, 80 Beaurepaire Crescent, Holt. Donations are accepted Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (10am to 1pm) and Saturdays (1pm to 4pm).
