FAQs

FAQs about our drop in sessions

Do I have to pay to come to drop in sessions?

Our drop in sessions are free to attend, and run twice a week every week – Wednesday 9am-3pm and Saturday 10am-12noon. Outside of those times you’ll need to book an appointment. They are run entirely independently with no outside funding by our experienced staff and trained volunteer members. We rely on contributions to keep the services running. If you have visited the sessions, found our support service useful and want to make a donation to help keep families safe and comfortable, please click here drop in for our Buy Us a Coffee site or here for PayPal.

Are the carriers available to try on and take home at drop in sessions?

Our extensive hire collection of over 1000 carriers by over 100 brands is available at every drop in session, and you can take them home on the day.  The exact carriers will change day to day as carriers come in and out, you can check the inventory or what’s currently in stock by getting in touch or checking our inventory site here.

Can I just come along to drop in sessions or do I need an appointment?

Drop in sessions are a shared space and we use them to make sure every family can have access to free fit checks and support with carrying regardless of ability to pay. We are extremely lucky that they are popular, busy and well attended. If it is your first visit to us, you have extra or more complex needs, if your family is affected by medical conditions relevant to carrying, you’d like to learn more in depth skills like carrying on the back, or would like to try multiple options for more than one adult, we’d strongly recommend that you book an appointment where possible. This is to keep our drop in sessions as safe and efficient as we can whilst allowing as many families as we can to access support. 

Some drop in services can be busy, and we ask for your patience if you happen upon a busy day. Joining our hire service online in advance is a great time saver, so if you can do that before you come, or even on your phone as you wait, we’ll be grateful. Here is the link you need.

FAQs about carrier hire

How much does carrier hire cost?

Our standard hire fee is £14.50 for four weeks of hire. This applies to all standard soft carriers in the collection. Swaps during your hire are unlimited and free.

Our bulky carrier hire fee is £18.50 for four weeks. This applies to most of the framed or backpack style carriers. Swaps during your hire are unlimited and free. This is to reflect the greater cost in storing and transporting these bulky items, as well as the increased cost of cleaning – they do not fit in the washing machine! We do not charge for rain and sun covers with our framed carriers.

Our twin hire rate applies to twin carriers which can be used to carry more than one baby. These carriers go out at a special rate which essentially carries the second baby half price!

We added a luxury hire charge to carriers with an extra high RRP to allow us to have these for you to try too. This extra charge is +£5.00 per four weeks on any soft carrier with an RRP of £250+ and any framed carrier with an RRP of £350+. At the time of writing this applies to only five carriers in the entire 1000+ carrier collection so it is the exception and not the rule!

Accessory hire fees are half the standard hire fee, and apply to items like carrying weather covers, infant inserts if hired without the carrier itself, and other assorted items.

Can I renew my carrier hire without coming in to a drop in session?

Yes! Our hire service will automatically renew, which makes it super easy to keep hold of your carrier for longer – you just do nothing and your hire will renew at the previous hire rate when it rolls past the return date. We don’t charge late fees. If you’d like to return your carrier, come along anny time during opening hours and we will check it in for you. If you’d like to swap, come to drop in and we will swap it for you at no extra charge, as many times as you like within your hire period.

Do you take a deposit?

In order to hire we ask you to provide debit card details, which are stored securely using the Stripe payment system as a deposit. They can also be used to pay hire fees at sessions, and allow carriers to be renewed without having to visit in person if you’d like to keep it for longer.

Can you hire more than one carrier at a time?

Yes, and many people do. All we suggest is to make sure you will have enough opportunities to use the carriers within your hire period to get the most from your comparison. Other than that, you can hire as many at a time as you like.

Can I take my hired carrier on holiday or out of the country?

Absolutely, as long as you send us a picture of you using it in an exotic location – we love to see our carriers travel the world. Seriously, though, you are responsible for returning the carrier to us, so if you want to take it abroad then do so. Have fun.

I’m not enjoying the carrier I have on hire, can I change it for another?

Yes, come to any of our drop in sessions and we will change your hire for you for something else, for no extra charge. Remember, we want you to enjoy your carrier hire. We want you to love it and be comfortable in it. That’s our job. So you can swap as often as you would like to, whether you’ve three weeks or three days of hire left.

Can I buy this carrier from you?

In most cases, we will have to say no. We are not a retailer and many of our hired carriers are offered to us at lower rates as samples or demo models for hire. It would not honour the arrangements we have with the retailers and our sling library supporters if we sold them on. Sometimes however, a carrier is due to retire from our library. At which point it will need a new, loving home. So do ask, and see what we have for retirement, but in most cases we need to keep our carrier collection whole.

FAQs about carrier return

Can I bring it back early if I can’t make the return date?

That’s no problem. Carrier can be returned either on or before the return date. Pop your hired items back to us during our standard opening hours at The Circle. We can accept returns during all open times, four days a week, including an evening and weekend day. 

Can I post the carrier back?

Yes, you can – but first and foremost you MUST include the name the carrier is hired under , inside the parcel. Without a name we are unable to match it to a hire account – which means it cannot be checked in and may incur more fees for hire until you get in touch with us. Please allow enough time for it to be delivered before its return date. Consider your method of postage to offer enough insurance, keep your proof of posting, and package your hire carrier well to avoid damage. The carrier is always the hirers responsibility until it is checked back in to us. Carrier returns being lost in the post has unfortunately happened before, and we have to charge for a replacement in that case, so it’s advisable to make sure it is covered by postage guarantees.

Please post to this address, and again, please include the name the carrier was hired under inside the parcel.

WYSL c/o Nicola Lawson, The Circle Farsley, 26a Farfield Avenue, Farsley, Leeds, LS28 5HL

Do I need to wash my hired carrier before return?

There is no need to wash your hired carrier to return it – we will wash and check all carriers on return before they go out to a new hire home to make sure they are clean and safe for all families. We do appreciate it if you’ve time to sponge any obvious suck, mud, or other marks, as you go – as it makes washing easier.  It’s important you return all straps, bags, hoods, covers, and lumbar support pieces that belong to your carrier as we can’t consider it returned if it’s incomplete. Oh, and please check all the pockets on your hired carrier before dropping it off! We’ve had some rather important things left in the pockets over the years.

Please let us know if your hire carrier needs special laundering – for instance if it has been in contact with an infectious disease e.g. Chicken Pox. We keep our babies safe using NHS guidelines, and we will quarantine and launder it appropriately.

What happens if I bring my carrier back late?

Your carrier will automatically renew if it falls past the return date. Our system works on a renewal basis that means items can’t really be returned late, but we don’t do late fees, and you are welcome to return any time on of before the return date. If you have hire time on your account you didn’t use, you can transfer it to another carrier or keep it for the future, whatever suits you.