AN AWARD-winning not-for-profit community project that supplied, laundered nappies and promoted the reusable sort is to close.

YummyBums was set up in 2009 by Barrow-based mum-of-two Sarah Parry and won one national and three regional awards last year.

But Sarah, 36, has been forced to sell up due to health problems, which include a bad back, that have left her unable to cope with the workload.

She would make a ‘nappy run’ every Saturday, picking up the used nappies from customers houses in East Lancashire, and take them to Royal Blackburn Hospital for cleaning each Monday.

The reusable nappies, which are made out of cotton, helped her claim prizes including the National Environment Award and the Best Recycling Project in 2012. Sarah, who works as a clothing designer, said: “I’m so sad to finish the community project but I’m really proud of what I have achieved over the last five years.

“I would love to carry on but there isn’t a way for me to do so and I had to stop at some point.

“I hope I have made a positive impact on the environment through encouraging other mums to use reusable nappies instead of disposable ones, which take 300 years to decompose.”

Since Sarah started the project, she has diverted more than 50 tonnes of disposable nappies from landfill, amounting to about 276,350 nappies.

Sarah said: “Together with the mums that have used this project, I think we have made a difference and I hope others will do something similar in the future.

“I would like to thank all our mums and babies and the staff at Royal Blackburn Hospital who have been fantastic because I would never have been able to do it with just access to one domestic washing machine!”