Phase 1 - the first 5 pallets
On 20 August 2015, a
Pageant team completed the first phase of assembling pallets for
shipment to The Gambia. So far five pallets have been assembled, and
probably another two or three will be required to complete the
shipment.
Shipping donated goods to The Gambia is one of Pageant's regular
summer tasks. For a number of years we shipped items on FROGS
(another Gambian charity) containers and have more recently hired
our own containers, and sent complete container loads on some
occasions. However, this is costly and we cannot always afford it,
so sometimes we have found it less expensive to use pallets, which
are then placed into containers by our shippers. Building pallets is
a bit more difficult and time-consuming than filling a container, as
pallets need to be robust enough to withstand repeated handling and
stacking, and packing them tightly is quite an art.
The Pageant team now has well tried techniques for building pallets.
First tables or other solid furniture are placed on the pallet base
to form a 'box'. Other rigid items, such as chairs, cupboards, boxed
microscopes etc are placed within the box, and all the crevices
between them filled with soft items, which we call 'squishies'.
Finally the pallet is enclosed in corrugated cardboard, labelled and
wrapped in cling-film.
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trailer with two pallet bases |
pallet 1 being completed
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starting pallet 2
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The first photo shows the trailer, which has two pallet bases on it.
Alongside are a stack of tables ready to form 'boxes' on the bases. The
second photo shows the pallet 1 being completed. The third
photo shows tables being placed on pallet 2 to form the first layer
of the 'box'.
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chairs being placed in pallet 2
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more tables form the second layer for
the box on pallet 2
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The fourth photo shows
chairs being placed as infilling in the 'box' on pallet 2. Photos 5
and 6 show tables being used to build the second layer of the box on
pallet 2.
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'squishies' ready for more pallets
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pallet 5 ready to go
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Photo 7 shows 'squishies'
destined for more pallets on the floor of Pippa and Ian's lounge.
They are being labelled with contents and destination. So far this
year. Pageant has packed up about 600 'squishies' containing donated
clothes, bedding, towels and other useful items. In phase 1, we have
built five pallets and four of these were taken straight to our shippers in
Crawley (heartfelt thanks to Peter). Pallet 5, shown in the last photo,
was taken to Crawley today. (24 August). Alongside it are more tables, chairs and other items,
which will complete this year's shipment with two or three more
pallets. We will bring you news of 'phase 2' when it happens.
It is interesting to compare the techniques used
for filling containers and building pallets. Here are some news
pages showing both techniques:
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