A Broughton mum has launched a free seven-day challenge to help families across Chester and the surrounding area tackle the clothes, toys, books and other children’s items piling up at home.

Karolina Gudes, mum of two and founder of UK family platform Kidora, created Outgrown, Not Wasted after experiencing first-hand how quickly children’s belongings can accumulate as they grow.

The free challenge encourages families to tackle one manageable category each day and make one of five decisions with every item they find: keep it, pass it on, donate it, recycle it responsibly or sell it.

Karolina said: “When children are young, it can feel as though they are constantly growing out of something. Clothes become too small, toys stop being played with, books are left behind and baby equipment is suddenly no longer needed.”

“The problem is that dealing with everything can become another piece of parenting admin, so perfectly useful things often end up sitting in bags or cupboards for months.”

“We wanted to make the process much simpler. Not everything needs to be sold and not everything needs to be donated. The important thing is making a sensible next decision for each item.”

The idea grew partly from Karolina’s own experience trying to pass on her children’s belongings. Before creating Kidora, she experienced more than 50 failed Facebook Marketplace collections, with prospective buyers arranging to collect items and then not turning up.

She added: “When something is only worth a few pounds, arranging collection after collection can quickly feel like more effort than the item is worth. That was one of the things that made me think more carefully about all the different ways children’s things can have another life.”

Outgrown, Not Wasted is deliberately broader than selling. Families can pass clothes directly to friends or relatives, donate books and toys, keep sentimental pieces, recycle items that are no longer suitable for reuse or sell higher-value things where it makes sense.

The full seven-day challenge and free printable family checklist are available at:
https://kidora.uk/outgrown

Free materials have also been created for schools, nurseries, PTAs and community organisations that would like to share the challenge with local families.

Karolina said: “A successful clear-out does not mean turning everything into money. If an outgrown coat goes to another child, books find a new reader, something unsuitable for reuse is recycled correctly or a parent finally sorts a cupboard they have been avoiding for six months, that is progress.”

“The aim is simply to help more children’s things get their next life instead of sitting forgotten at home.”

Kidora itself was created in North Wales and has since developed into a wider UK family platform with three connected areas: a marketplace dedicated to baby and children’s items, a Parent Hub with practical family information and Family Places, which brings together more than 6,500 places around the UK for families looking for days out and activities.

The marketplace currently has more than 1,000 listed items.

Kidora has been built by a three-person team around their existing full-time jobs, using roughly £7,000 of their own money and without outside investment.

The small business was recently featured nationally by The Sun on Sunday and has also been selected as one of Theo Paphitis’ weekly #SBS Small Business Sunday winners.

Karolina hopes Chester-area families, schools, nurseries and parent groups will use the free Outgrown, Not Wasted resources as autumn begins and families start clearing space ahead of Christmas.

She said: “You do not need to clear the whole house in a weekend. One drawer, one bag or one small category at a time is enough. Seven small decisions can feel much more achievable than one enormous clear-out.”