Giving a little boy a happy birthday

“Mum asked for a teddy. It doesn’t even have to be new.” One of our referral sources visited us and asked for some items for a little boy and his Mum. The boy was about to celebrate his 5th Birthday and the Mum had no means to provide him with any gifts. Recently fleeing a …

The gift that keeps on giving

This blog was written by Suzanne Spilling from Fidelity, who felt inspired to write about her corporate volunteering day with us at Stripey Stork. Originally written for Fidelity’s Intranet, she kindly gave us permission to post on our blog too. We’d like to thank Suzanne for being our guest blogger, and the whole team for …

Stripey’s summer reading list and competition

We were recently sent ten of Penguin Random House’s best picks of summer reading books for children. You can just imagine our excitement when they arrived all shiny and new. They know that we are best-placed to ensure they end up in the right hands – children who are going to read them many times …

Top tips for taking better photos of your kids with a smartphone

This guide is for anyone with children who want to take great photos on the go using their smartphone. It was done in collaboration with a local and professional photographer Rachel Thornhill. In Rachel’s own words: “I think smartphone cameras are brilliant. They allow us to capture the little everyday moments in our children’s lives, …

The dressing gown gift

Trigger warning. This article references domestic abuse.  “I went to visit with him last week and he showed me his room. He has nothing in it except for a little rucksack which he packs a few clothes in for his stay each week.” This came from a request we received from a Social Worker we …

Stripes4Stripey 2018 – results are in and we smashed it!

On 21st June 2018 we asked our little corner of the world to dig deep in their wardrobes for all things stripey, then dig deep into their pockets and make a donation to our Stripes4Stripey fund. We can proudly report that you did good! The results are now in, everything has been added up, all …

Christmas will not be cancelled!

Christmas will not be cancelled! Imagine having to tell your children that they won’t be receiving any presents at Christmas. No presents at all. Children still in Junior school who wouldn’t have stories to share about the presents they received when they went back after the holidays. That was the reality for a local family …

The party dress

This is a story which really tugged on our heart strings. At Stripey Stork we pack all the requests to order and pride ourselves with going the extra mile to find just the right items. This particular story is of a health visitor who asked us for a party dress for a 5-year-old-girl. She had …

More than just a buggy

A family already overwhelmed by the immediate medical needs of their new baby, now faced the seemingly impossible task of financing an expensive pushchair – the only model suitable to accommodate the medical equipment their daughter so desperately needed. This was the reality before the nurse from Croydon’s Children’s Hospital at Home Team (CHAH) reached …