Santa Stork 2024

The objective of the work we do at Stripey Stork is to provide essential items for children from 0-18 years, and to offer that service all year round. As demand for our service grows, and costs to deliver the service increase, we must prioritise that core work. No one would want us to prioritise providing Christmas gifts to a child over a safe place for a baby to sleep, and so we need to focus on keeping our waiting lists low for items like cots and buggies. We are also aware of other groups who offer Christmas gifts across the region and its apparent that in recent years we have in some cases been helping the same organisations and families. We love the Santa Stork campaign, and know how popular it is with families, volunteers and supporters so it will remain in our calendar, but as the largest baby bank in Surrey we will keep a focus on our core work. This year’s approach allows us to balance the need for winter essentials and Christmas giving, and we’re grateful for your support in doing that.

Any family living in Surrey or the London Borough of Croydon, who are experiencing poverty and would not otherwise have gifts at Christmas, is eligible to be referred to Santa Stork. Requests must come from a professional supporting the family – as with our regular support requests.

There is no limit, but please only refer families you support directly, families you know meet the above criteria, and families who are not being supported by any other Christmas giving scheme this year. All requests will be subject to available stock / funds.

The referrals criteria this year is based on the location of the family, not the referral organisation.

In previous years, we have been able to support larger numbers of children through Santa Stork. This year, we have refocused our winter fundraising efforts so that we can both provide Christmas gift options and make sure no family goes without the essential items they need to get through winter (see ‘the campaign looks different this year’ for more). Because of this, we will not be able to accept Santa Stork requests for families

in other areas – this includes Sussex, and the London Borough of Sutton. Our core baby bank service is still available to all referral partners, regardless of location.

UK wide) Your nearest baby bank: https://stripeystork.org.uk/babybanks/

(UK wide) Salvation Army centres: https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/christmas-present-appeal

(Horley, Crawley, East Grinstead) Greenaway Foundation: https://greenawayfoundation.org/

(Crawley/Sussex/Kent) Golden Lion Community Trust:  https://glct.org.uk/

(Surrey) Smiles4Smiles: https://www.facebook.com/Smiles2Smiles

(Woking) Jigsaw https://the-lighthouse.info/projects/jigsaw

1. Download our referrals spreadsheet, and fill this in with the information about the families you wish to refer. Using the link within the spreadsheet, book your collection slot, and then send your spreadsheet over to santa@stripeystork.org.uk before 4th December.

2. Our team will then view your requests and either approve them, or contact you if any details need to be clarified. This may involve signposting you to a scheme more suitable / local to you if necessary.

3. Collect your gifts on the collection date from our site in Redhill.

We will not be offering the catalogue this year. Referral partners will complete the spreadsheet with basic information about the family, including the age and gender of the children. Our volunteers will then select an age-appropriate bundle of items for the children, including a toy wherever possible, from the selection donated by the community or via our Amazon wishlist. When the referral partners collect the gift bundles they will have the opportunity to check the gifts are suitable for their families and change these where needed (note that this will be offered for referral partners only and not for the families to attend these sessions).

We know that choice is important in some referrals, and for these requests we encourage our referral partners to click on the Truly Giving link. They will ask for the age, gender, and interests of the child, and match them with a donor who provides a gift tailored to the child’s wishes. The gifts will all be delivered to the Stripey Stork offices in Redhill so can be collected or delivered from there.

Each child will receive a selection of gifts, such as a book, blanket, small toy, stationery and chocolate coins, subject to the stock we have. Where possible, we will also add a present from the donations made by the community. Items will be packed in a plain bag so that families can easily conceal them from children at home(!) and we’ll only include wrapping paper, tape or gift bags if you ask at the time of collection.