smallhobbit | Carpe Diem: Wednesday

Wednesday's child is full of woe

Tell us about a cause you’re passionate about

It's squee again, and it will come as a surprise to nobody when I choose Gloucestershire Bundles.

This is the charity I volunteer with and for whom I am the Treasurer and one of the Trustees. My main role is finance and grant applications, although I also help out at other events on occasion.

We are a baby bank. Which means we provide items for pregnant women and families with children up to the age of 16 who find themselves in crisis situations. We are not unique, there are many baby banks around the country, although each one works slightly differently, so if you live in the UK there'll be one somewhere in your vicinity. They also exist in parts of the States.

The items we provide include toiletries for mothers going into hospital and children; clothing for all ages from newborn to 16; equipment, including all the essentials necessary with a baby or toddler up to bedding for single beds; toys and books.

We work on a referral only basis, so professionals such as social workers, health visitors, school pastoral teams, refugee support etc etc, will let us know what the family needs and we do our best to provide it. The reason for being in need can be loss of income (for a variety of reasons), families fleeing domestic violence, refugees, teenage mothers not old enough to claim benefits so the demands are on their own parents etc.

We receive donations of good condition pre-loved items from the public, and we also receive new items from them, especially toiletries and toys for our Christmas Appeal. We also buy items, such as cot mattresses where they need to be sent out new.

We raise money from holding table top sales and having tables at local fairs. We sell items on Ebay. We receive grants. But we have no statutory funding. As well as items we need to buy, we also have running costs for the unit and wages of our one part-time member of staff.

How can you get involved? While I obviously support my local baby bank, as I said there are others. See if you can find yours and see what they want - not what you think they might like, but what they actually want. If they have a Christmas Appeal, maybe you could help collect items at your workplace - last year we provided a large bag of individually sellected presents, new pyjamas and pants, and a chocolate selection box for 260 children - so every little helps.