From one mum to another.
-Amazon wish list purchaser-
In one small message this sums up exactly what our A Gift for Mum campaign is all about. It’s a note, a gift, a thought that says you matter and you’re doing a good job. Sadly, for a lot of the mums we support, celebrating Mother’s Day is just not a priority. We’ve seen first hand how many mums are struggling to make ends meet, putting their needs last and regularly going without so that they can provide for their children.
Thanks to your kindness and generosity, this year we have been able to give out 608 pampering gifts. That’s 608 mums that will feel loved and appreciated.
One Mum that I worked with broke down in tears, she gave me a big hug. She said that she is having a really hard time at the moment and the gift, she received gave her the boost that she needed, to carry on.
– Outreach worker-
Our Mother’s Day gift bags are filled with brand new toiletries and pampering gifts that bring a little bit of joy and give mums permission to take a little time out and put themselves first. We have received some beautiful donations from people within the community, from local Brownie and Guides groups and local companies.
This year we made it even easier to donate items to our campaign with drop off points within the local area. A huge thank you to The Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill, Gerrards in Reigate, Ralph James Estate Agents in Reigate, Redhill and Dorking, Walter & Mair Estate Agents in Coulsdon and The Personal Agent in Banstead. Thank you to everyone who dropped off brand new toiletries and pampering gifts at these locations.
Our hearts really sing when local groups get behind our campaigns and this year we are extremely grateful to the 1st Meadvale Brownies and Guides and the 5th Reigate Guides for filling over 50 bags.
We also received some fabulous deliveries from our friends at Beauty Banks and The Hygiene Banks, which meant we were able to include some luxury items in our gift bags – we can just imagine the joy these will bring to the mums receiving them. These deliveries have gone a long way to ensuring we could meet demand this year.
We’ve had a lot of support for our Mother’s Day campaign but a big shout out goes to Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions. They’re big supporters of Stripey Stork and once again made a donation of £500 to the campaign. Thank you.
Receiving a gift to open on Mother’s Day is wonderful but opening a handwritten card with a message of support is the icing on the cake. We love this beautiful design by Ava from Merstham Park School, who won our competition to design this year’s card.
A big thank you to our volunteers who wrote the beautiful messages inside the cards.
The cards were also available to buy online and at our donation points, making a lovely keepsake for mum. A big thank you to Joe and his friends from year 6 at Reigate St Marys school who sold these cards in the playground. They raised a fantastic £91.50.
Our little orange bags have gone out to mums across Surrey and we can just imagine the happiness that they will feel upon receiving their gifts. For some mums this will be their first Mother’s day, for others it will be a lonely one and for some it will be the only little luxury they’ll receive. On behalf of all these mums, thank you for supporting our campaign. We also understand that Mother’s Day isn’t just for the Mums either, children get a great deal of joy from being able to present Mum with a gift.
Mums were so pleased to receive the gifts and told us of the excitement from the children keeping the gift a secret until the Sunday, and that the children could barely contain themselves. Many mums would not have received anything had it not been for your kindness so thank you from all of us
-Marden Lodge School-
A Gift for Mum is an important campaign to us and we are proud to be able to support mums on Mother’s Day. We know that this campaign really means a lot to the mums receiving these gifts. We spoke to some of our referral partners after they had delivered the gifts;
Some of the Mother’s that we work with are single parents and there is no contact with the fathers. Three families I work with the father is in prison. One Mother has been disowned by her family because she had a child out of wedlock and she is Muslim. The father does not have contact or support her.
-Family centre worker-
We work with vulnerable families and single parent families. Often the mothers are extremely isolated and lacking support from family and friends. Many of our families also struggle financially.
– NHS Surrey and Borders Partnership Foundation Trust-
Mother A said – Stripey Stork always consider the little things and that’s what I really appreciate.
-Referral partner-
Children too young to give mother a gift, dad suffers from mental health which may impact on his ability to appreciate his wife and the family struggle with financial difficulties therefore have no funds to purchase the gift.
-Surrey Children’s Services-
Delivering a campaign like this would not be possible without the help of our fantastic team of volunteers. We know this is a favourite task with our volunteers and they put so much care and attention into the gift bags. Thank you to all of you who unpacked deliveries, made up gifts bags, wrote the cards and collected donations.
Finally, we would like to wish every mum a very Happy Mother’s Day. A day when you can (hopefully) sit back, relax and celebrate the fantastic job you are doing.
If you are interested in supporting our campaigns, there are lots of ways to get involved including volunteering, corporate volunteering and fundraising. Our team would love to hear from you: partnerships@stripeystork.org.uk
