“One particular item – a stylish bum bag – quickly became Leila’s favourite. It helped her feel confident and fashionable, while also providing a practical way to keep her glucose monitor close at hand. Each time she was visited afterwards, she proudly wore it.”

Leila*, aged 12, arrived in the UK with her parents after seeking asylum from Iran. Living in asylum accommodation, the family were adjusting to an unfamiliar environment while managing significant health and wellbeing challenges.

Leila lives with Type 1 Diabetes and uses a continuous glucose monitor to manage her condition. Alongside the practical demands of her health needs, Leila, aged 12, arrived in the UK with her parents after seeking asylum from Iran. Living in asylum accommodation, the family were adjusting to an unfamiliar environment while managing significant health and wellbeing challenges.

Leila lives with Type 1 Diabetes and uses a continuous glucose monitor to manage her condition. Alongside the practical demands of her health needs, the disruption of displacement and limited opportunities for everyday childhood activities began to affect her confidence and emotional wellbeing. She spent long periods indoors, with few personal belongings or activities to bring comfort or joy.

Working in partnership with Alliance for Better Care, we were able to provide vital support at a crucial time. Through the provision of high-quality, pre-loved clothes, toys and activity sets, Leila received age-appropriate items that reflected her interests and helped her feel more like herself. This support had an immediate and visible impact on her confidence and mood, playing an important role in improving her wellbeing during a period of uncertainty and transition. By restoring comfort, confidence and a sense of normality, it helped her feel valued, supported and cared for when it mattered most.

* Names changed to protect privacy.

The post Supporting Leila appeared first on Stripey Stork.

Family matters

‘Family’ has been the running theme of Stripey Stork’s year, which is why it has been specifically chosen for our festive bauble this year. This isn’t a new word to be thrown around at Stripey Stork, in fact, it’s one of the cornerstones of our strapline: ‘Family. Support. Recycled’. It’s why we do what we do – we help families experiencing hardship in Surrey and Croydon. This year, however, we wanted to give the families we support more of a voice in our service, so that it can be shaped with them, rather than for them.

The kick start into this mindset came earlier in the year, when we signed the Good Company’s End Poverty Pledge, reaffirming our commitment to working towards a poverty-free Surrey. Although we already embed many of the pledge’s principles, an important and tangible action for us was to form our own Lived Experience Action Group (LEAG). This consists of members of our Advisory Panel, specifically those with lived experience, and some key members of staff. They meet regularly to discuss any potential changes or enhancements to our service, review the language we use, consider how information could be better accessed, and explore improved ways of gathering feedback. As a result of this group, we have already changed the structure and content of parts of our website; giving families a clearer pathway and informative experience when seeking support from us.

Our core service

2025 in numbers

Although we believe that numbers are not the ultimate measure of our impact, they do provide a useful indicator of how well we are meeting demand for our service.

In 2025, we’ve helped a total of 16,907 families (and 30,280 children). This includes referrals made on behalf of specific families, as well as items collected or delivered in bulk by other baby banks and partner organisations. Please note, this year and going forward, we’re including the additional families supported through our Santa Stork Christmas campaign (more on this below).

We’ve given out approximately 82,650 items this year, including:

• 5,619 clothes packs.
• 585 newborn packs.
• 1,252 safe places to sleep.

We’ve worked with 441 different partner organisations who refer families to us that need a helping hand.

School Days

School Days is our school readiness campaign, providing preloved and new school essentials all year round so children (up to college age) can thrive in their education.

In 2025, we’ve supported 4,116 families (7,503 children) with school items, including:

• 2,567 filled school bags.
• 3,648 pairs of school shoes/trainers (thanks to Sal’s Shoes for their continued support).
• 21,170 items of school uniform.

Now in its third year, School Days is supporting more families than ever before – 32% more than in 2024. As the cost-of-living crisis continues to hit hard, school items are understandably not a priority for parents struggling to make ends meet when there are bills to pay, mouths to feed and homes to heat.

To manage the high amount of School Days donations, collections and deliveries, our project site at Raven House in Redhill continues to work hard for us. This year, we’ve expanded the range of school items we stock, worked more proactively with schools and increased directly delivering to them. We have supported 14 pop-up uniform shops, which are a brilliant way to reach families and give them the choice they deserve.

We are especially thankful to all the local schools and PTA’s that have organised preloved uniform collections and coat drives, enabling families to donate good quality items their children have outgrown or no longer need. It truly reflects ‘Family. Support. Recycled’ and it means so much to families like this:

“The family had children who were in school uniform that was too small for them and marked/stained. This opened them up to bullying, embarrassment and reluctance to engage. Since receiving the items, the children have felt more included and the mum feels less guilt about not being able to provide for the children. She was overwhelmed with the kindness of your charity.”

Spreading Our Wings

We are now in the final year of the Spreading Our Wings three-year programme (ending June 2026), funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Below are some highlights of what we’ve been able to achieve in terms of capacity and reach:

• Our target was to have the operational capacity to respond to 20,000 referrals a year by the end of 2026. The changes we have made, including the new workshop, put us in strong position to do that as demand continues to grow year on year.
• We have 24 regular delivery hubs (16 more than a year ago), enabling us to deliver specifically requested and bulk items closer to referral partners, where travelling to us was previously a barrier.
• In the last year, 286 referral organisations have used our delivery service, supporting 8,111 families (that’s 59% of the total families supported by us this year). This has been made possible because of our very own electric van which continues to be an essential ‘team member’.
• We are now working with 65 referral organisations in Croydon (who mostly access our service through deliveries). This has been a focus for us as it’s an area of high need which was previously underrepresented by support services like ours. We have also extended our reach to West Surrey – specifically Woking, Spelthorne, Guildford and Waverley, with rising referral numbers in Surrey Heath.
• In the past year, we have benefited from 19,083 volunteer hours from a broad range of volunteers, including 2,839 hours through our corporate volunteering programme. We have extended our volunteering offer to include more opportunities, such as Saturday sorting sessions and home-based working, which has helped us process the high volume of preloved donations arriving weekly.

“Fab organisation – referral system is easier now and excellent to have the Guildford hub to pick up from. Makes my life so much easier knowing I don’t have to factor a long drive to my busy diary.”

– Referral Partner Survey, 2025 –

New workshop

A key element of this project has been the opening of our new workshop at 55 Albert Road North – next door to our Reigate warehouse – with the official opening event held in May. This newly renovated, additional space has been a dream come true, and we honestly don’t know how we managed without it.

The workshop provides an accessible space with designated areas to process, safety check and clean large equipment items. It has also enabled us to welcome more volunteers and benefit from the additional storage space.

Partnerships

We are grateful to the businesses, schools and community groups that choose to support us – through giving their time, energy and/or donations. Here are some of this year’s highlights.

Unum

At the beginning of 2024, we were delighted to be chosen as the charity partner for Unum’s Dorking office for the next two years. Following a very successful partnership – raising over £45,000 to date, joining us onsite for over 1,200 volunteering hours, supporting all of our seasonal campaigns, regularly donating preloved items, and, last but absolutely not least, covering the first year’s rent for our new workshop – we were even more delighted when they announced they would like to extend the partnership for a third year.

“Unum is so proud to be supporting Stripey Stork as our charity partner and we are delighted to have been able to play a part in their growth journey. The work that the charity does is so impactful and I cannot wait to be on site sorting out donations again soon.”

– Mark Till, Chief Executive Officer, Unum –

Reigate Heath Golf Club

Another partnership highlight was being chosen by Captains David and Susie as their charity of the year, following a visit to our warehouse. Over the summer, they both took on immense personal challenges: David cycling 1,000km from St Andrews Golf Club in Scotland to his home course, while Susie playing 90 holes in 5 days across 10 different clubs. Their incredible efforts raised over £20,000, and you can read more about their challenges here.

As if we weren’t blown away enough, their Captains’ Day in September raised a further £18,000. They were then able to add this to some more funds already raised and double it by donating through our Big Give Christmas Challenge in December (more on this below). What a shining example of what can be achieved through determination and imagination, supported by a network of friends and players.

Reigate Squash Club

Another mutually beneficial partnership is with Reigate Squash Club, who have also extended their support into the second year. In 2025, they held a summer BBQ, ran a racket competition, took part in Run Reigate, got a team together for both of our quiz events, organised collections and supported our seasonal campaigns. A truly first-class team!

In-kindness

New items donated – either by small independent businesses or national corporations keen to support us with surplus or discontinued stock – are an important part of our model. MAM Baby really get this and have continued to support us with ongoing and generous donations of baby bottles, sterilisers, breast pumps and soothers, ensuring these essential stocks are kept topped up. They have also seen the impact of this support through regularly volunteering with us.

Schools

We always say at Stripey Stork that kindness starts at a young age. We love seeing children embrace this ethos and are always happy to support schools when they choose to support us through their activities; from organising donation drives to running gift collections. We’re grateful to every single school for thinking of us and it’s no surprise that we are often front of mind, as many of the schools that support us are also on the receiving end of this kindness. Two schools, in particular, deserve a special mention because of their fundraising creativity and enthusiasm.

At St Johns School in Leatherhead, a group of Year 8 students organised a 10-mile sponsored walk as part of the First Give programme to raise funds and awareness of hidden child poverty. As a powerful act of empathy, they also took part in a ‘Go Without Day’, arriving at school without bags, snacks or essentials. They went on to win the competition, securing £1,000 in additional funding on top of the money they had already raised. You can read more about their fundraising efforts here.

As part of Reigate Grammar School’s 350th birthday celebrations, they challenged themselves to donate and fill 350 secondary school bags for the local children we support. The impact was felt far and wide, with hundreds of children able to start the academic year with confidence and dignity.

Our wonderful volunteers

“This is an opportunity to make a significant difference to the lives of children and parents who are struggling. The culture at Stripey is inclusive, friendly, encouraging and built on an ethos of high standards. So much care and effort goes into quality checking and preparing the items that are needed. I love telling people about what we do at Stripey Stork as so proud to be part of the team.”

– Volunteer Survey, 2025 –

The feeling is entirely mutual. Our volunteers are the heart and soul of what we do, and we genuinely couldn’t do it without them. We are incredibly grateful for their dedication, kindness and collaboration. It was fitting that volunteer Sam was recognised for these very qualities at the Mayor of Reigate and Banstead Volunteers Awards, scooping up an Individual Award.

Our volunteers rise to the challenge year after year so we can continue to meet growing demand, and they’ve seized opportunities along the way. This includes some of our more experienced volunteers stepping into Area Lead roles, as well as those working out in the community organising remote working teams (with particular thanks to Penny and Kate). We’ve even uncovered a few DIY enthusiasts within the group, alongside volunteers keen to be van drivers when needed.

Our young volunteers

Our Duke of Edinburgh volunteering programme continues to go from strength to strength. This year, the scheme has achieved:

• 1,268 volunteer hours completed.
• 50 students from 7 schools/colleges have volunteered.
• 36 Bronze, 13 Silver and 2 gold students have completed awards.

As part of the Mayor of Reigate and Banstead Volunteers Awards, it was also wonderful to see the team of regular volunteers who support these students – Jo, Ann, Nicky, Sue and Sally – recognised with a Team Volunteer Award. Alongside their patience and kindness, they bring backgrounds in teaching and Scout leadership, giving us confidence that our students are in capable hands.

Also supported by Helen, our Volunteer Co-ordinator for Young People, we welcomed a small group of students from the Orpheus Centre, a local charity supporting disabled young people. They joined us weekly for 6 weeks and it was a pleasure to watch them grow in confidence and independence over that time.

Fundraising events

Mummy Pig’s baby shower

It isn’t every day that you get to host a baby shower, let alone for a cartoon piglet! So, when we heard the news that Peppa Pig was welcoming a baby sister, we knew we had to jump on the opportunity. It’s a fun and playful way to highlight a serious issue: the growing number of families who need our help when welcoming a new baby. In collaboration with The Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill, we ran children’s activities throughout May half term, with opportunities for families to donate new items for local babies and new mums in need. At Stripey Stork, we’ve always believed in responding creatively and compassionately to whatever comes our way. This baby shower might have been for a fictional pig, but the need it highlighted is very real.

Stripes4Stripey

This annual stripey fundraiser takes place in June, with supporters wearing stripes and shouting about it to raise vital funds for our ongoing work. This year was a record-breaker, raising £6,933, and you can read all about it in our blog. Thanks to Reigate Manor for hosting our Stripey quiz in the evening, Unum for sponsoring the event and everyone who joined us – making it a sell-out and a cracking night. It was so successful that we had requests to organise another, which we did, later in the year in aid of our Christmas campaign.

Run Reigate

In September, we returned to Priory Park with a fantastic team of 50 runners for Run Reigate. We’re grateful to all the individuals, corporate teams and families who chose to run and fundraise for Stripey Stork. Their collective efforts are never in vain, and they raised an amazing £20,360.

A teenage boy from Ukraine, Volodymyr, truly stole the show this year. We had been supporting Volodymyr and his family since they settled in Reigate after fleeing the war in Ukraine. Wanting to give back, Volodymyr asked if he could run the 10k for us – and of course, we were honoured.

“I have never forgotten this kindness and the way it made us feel welcome and safe.”

The surprise came when Volodymyr shared his fundraising page on a local Facebook group in an attempt to reach his £200 target. Within just two days, he had raised over £1,000. He was more shocked than anyone, telling us emotionally that he had never experienced kindness from strangers like this before moving here. You can read Volodymyr’s story here.

We were delighted when Volodymyr later joined our Advisory Panel, bringing a unique perspective as a refugee and a teenage boy. In fact, one of his first tasks was researching what Christmas gifts teenage boys would enjoy.

Challenge events

We’ve been incredibly lucky to have some amazing people take on fantastic challenges for us this year. These include:

• Ecem and Georgina, who both ran marathons.
• Anna, Susie and Lauren, who completed the Royal Parks Half Marathon, and Josh and Alex for doing the Kingston Half.
• Rickard and Neil, who cycled to Paris.
• Naomi and her colleagues from the Surrey Children’s Services Pre-Birth Team, who took on the Surrey Three Peaks Hike.

These are just the highlights. We are grateful to every Stripey Stork fundraiser and their family, friends and colleagues for supporting them through sponsorship and encouragement. If a challenge event is part of your plans for 2026 then we’d love to support you. More details here.

Seasonal campaign

A Gift for Mum

This campaign is one of the constants in our annual calendar. We – alongside our supporters and referral partners – know how important it is to show mums and female carers that they are appreciated, and what better time to do this than Mother’s Day. This year, we distributed 770 pampering gift bags, each accompanied by a special card handwritten by one of our volunteers. You can read more in our blog.

Santa Stork

This is our Christmas giving campaign, which you can read all about in our results blog: https://stripeystork.org.uk/santa-stork-2025-behind-the-presents/.

We supported 5,650 children with Christmas gifts, in addition to the 1,200 children directly helped by Truly Giving with specific gift requests. We had originally estimated this figure to be closer to 4,000, which highlights just how severe the pressures of Christmas are in the current financial climate. Once again, our project site at Raven House has been transformed into Santa’s grotto, our elves – from regular volunteers and staff to corporate groups – have been busy sorting and packing gifts, with a constant stream of present bundles being collected by referral partners or delivered directly to them.

Following the successful partnership we formed last year with Truly Giving, we joined forces once again to help fulfil those extra-special gift requests. For the popular and timeless gifts, our incredible community of supporters far and wide truly stepped up and answered every call.

The Big Give

To round off the year, we once again took part in The Big Give’s Christmas Challenge. Last year, our focus was on raising funds for safe and warm places to sleep. It proved to be a hugely impactful campaign: we won the Newcomer Award and by September, we had already reached our target of providing 1,000 safe places to sleep.

The demand for these items is continuous, and referral partners have come to rely on us to provide them. For this year’s Big Give campaign, we made the decision to extend our focus to include winter warmth items, such as clothing, coats, prams and cosy toes. Our target was £108,000, enabling us to supply and process these essential items throughout the upcoming winter months. We’re delighted to say we hit our target – and then some – and you can read all about it in our blog.

We’d like to give special thanks to the following foundations and businesses for having faith in us by contributing to the match funding pot: the Shanly Foundation (our Champion Funders), the Wisley Foundation, the Borrow’s Family Charitable Trust, esure, Alchemy Foundation, Unum and Celtic Contractors.

Below are some impact stories that demonstrate the need for safe sleep and winter warmth – and how, thanks to this campaign, we’re going to be able to say ‘yes’ to all requests like these:

• How a freezing family found warmth
• A cot, a fresh start and a new beginning
• From shared sofa to big girl bed
• Safer Sleep: Cherishing important milestones without worry

Our Impact

Whilst we don’t work directly with families, we hear about the impact of our work almost every day. It’s there in the quiet words of a referral partner telling us that, without our support, a family in crisis would have had no presents on Christmas Day. It’s in the gratitude of a grandparent dropping off a cot we had gifted for their grandchild after mum had fled domestic abuse with nothing. And it’s in the meaningful donation from a mum we once supported, who is now in a better place and wanted to give something back. Each of these moments means so much in their own special way.

As we have grown, so too has our impact. Last year, we began capturing this more formally in the first quarter of the new year through an annual Impact Report. You can read our 2024 Impact Report here.

We’ll leave you with one special impact story that shows how small actions can make a big difference: From football boots to a bright future

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

– Anne Frank, 1944 –

The post Looking back at Stripey’s year – 2025 appeared first on Stripey Stork.

Last year, our focus was on raising funds for safe and warm places to sleep for children experiencing hardship in Surrey and Croydon. We were increasingly hearing about children with unsuitable bedding, dirty mattresses or, in some cases, no bed of their own. These children were having to share with a sibling or parent, sleep in their buggy or use a makeshift bed. One of our targets was to provide 1,000 beds and new mattresses (for Moses baskets, cribs, cots and toddler beds) in 2025 and reduce waiting lists for these essential items. By September, we had already reached our goal!

The demand for beds, mattresses and bedding is a continuous need, so as well as raising funds for only these items through the 2025 Challenge, we extended this year’s campaign to include winter clothes bundles, coats, prams and cosy toes. Winter is an especially tough season for the families we support. Rising energy bills and the increased cost of living leave many cold, tired and at risk of illness. Families facing poverty often use whatever they can to help keep their babies and children warm and comfortable. We want to make life easier by providing the essentials they need during these colder months.

A week before the campaign went live, we were given a powerful reminder of how vital it is to be able to respond quickly and compassionately. We received an urgent request for a family living in temporary accommodation; three children sleeping together, huddled under towels trying to keep warm, as temperatures outside dropped below zero. Read more…

Building the match funding pot

The first stage of the Big Give application was securing match funding.

A heartfelt thank you to the Wisley Foundation, the Borrow’s Family Charitable Trust, esure and the Alchemy Foundation for stepping forward as our lead pledgers. Their early support gave the campaign a strong foundation and signalled real confidence in what we are aiming to achieve.

With that backing in place, we were delighted when the Shanly Foundation joined as our champion funder, unlocking an opportunity to strengthen this part of the match funding even further. Our thanks also go to our corporate partners Unum and Celtic Contractors for adding their support at this crucial stage.

As an unexpected but very welcome boost, the Shanly Foundation then offered an additional challenge pledge. Believing in the power of our community to rise to the moment, we gladly accepted.

In total, we now needed £54,000 in supporter donations to unlock £54,000 of match funding, giving us £108,000 to deliver our winter warmth campaign in 2026.

Calling on our community

Next, we reached out to our amazing network of supporters – individuals, businesses, community and sports groups, schools and our wonderful volunteers – hoping to raise the £54,000 needed when the campaign went live. We already had early funds pledged via ‘Donation Promises’, and some incoming donations which were held back specifically so they could be matched. We are incredibly grateful to those who helped arrange this; it gave us the confidence to aim higher and increase our target from last year.

When the campaign went live, we watched in anticipation as donations began to pour in. We hit screen refresh almost as much as we consumed mince pies. Once again, the generosity of the community was absolutely amazing.

On the sixth day, we reached our £108,000 target, and by the end of the campaign we had raised an astounding £115,011 (not including Gift Aid or platform fees).

Because of this kindness, we head into 2026 with the reassurance that we can continue to say ‘yes’ to every request for a safe place to sleep and, as the weather gets harsher, we will be providing warmth in every bundle.

Our thanks

Thank you to the Big Give for giving so many fantastic charities this incredible opportunity.

Thank you to our champion funder, and to all our main and top-up pledgers for building our match funding pot.

And thank you to every individual and organisation who supported us. For reasons of anonymity, we can’t mention them all in this blog – but you know who you are.

As well as those already mentioned, a special thanks to…

• Reigate Heath Golf Club – Captains David and Sue
• The Barratts Redrow Foundation – David Thomas, CEO
• LexisNexis Risk Solutions
• Healy’s
• B&T Plant Hire
• Navigator Trust CIO
• Lois Shrimpton and the disco crew
• Westfestivity
• Bailhache Linton
• The Henry Smith Charity, Horley
• Ashford House Consultancy Ltd
• Riverdale Developments
• Redhill Redstone Rotary Club
• Josh & Alex – for running the Kingston Half Marathon

We look forward to sharing the impact of this campaign and the difference it makes throughout the coming year. As we always say at Stripey Stork: behind every referral is a family that needs our help. And it’s the impact of that help that makes everything we do worthwhile:

“The boys were all smiles as they opened the packages, and it was heartwarming to see how much they loved the new clothes. Their excitement was truly priceless. You helped lift a heavy load off my shoulders, and I can’t thank you enough for your kindness.”

The post The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2025 – Warmth in Every Bundle appeared first on Stripey Stork.

When Aisha* and her 6-month-old baby were first referred to Stripey Stork, their situation was desperate.

Baby had no safe space to sleep and was co-sleeping with mum.
They had just two nappies left.
Money for food was limited – mum could barely afford to feed herself, let alone begin weaning.
Baby clothes were too small – she’d been wearing them since birth.
There was no buggy for going out, no toys to play with.

Their need was urgent.

Aisha, 19, came to the UK from Nigeria on a student visa. Halfway through her course, she discovered she was pregnant. Alone and without family support, she tried to build a new life, but things quickly became very difficult.

The unborn baby’s father wanted nothing to do with them. She later moved in with someone who promised to take care of her and the baby, but the relationship soon turned abusive. It came to a head after an altercation in which he became violent, forcefully throwing the baby onto the bed. Aisha reported him to police and he fled.

Left with no home, no support and no access to public funds or work, Aisha felt trapped. She was determined to make things better for her baby but didn’t know where to turn – until Croydon Children’s Services stepped in.

Brenda, her social worker, had used Stripey Stork many times before so knew we could help. She made an urgent referral for a cot bed with a new mattress, highchair, buggy, nappies, clothes, toys and books – everything they needed for their new beginning.

Brenda could barely fit it all in her car, but she was determined to deliver everything in one go. Aisha was overwhelmed with emotion when she saw everything, saying tearfully:

“Thank you so much. I honestly don’t know what I’d have done without all this support.”

When Brenda visited them again in their new, self-contained room, the difference was remarkable.

Baby was sleeping well in her own bed and had established a bedtime routine, making her more alert and content. She was eating well, playing with her new toys and smiling in clothes that finally fit. Mum was visibly more confident, calmer and settling well into motherhood. In turn, baby seemed more relaxed and less clingy.

Brenda told us that Aisha’s story isn’t unique. Since working in Croydon, she’s seen the scale of hardship firsthand:

“A significant number of Croydon families are struggling to buy the basics like nappies, so they leave longer between nappy changes. Parents focus on survival and forget that play is vital for children’s development – but they simply can’t afford toys.”

She added:

“Without Stripey Stork, I honestly don’t know how I’d have helped. The local authority can only offer a one-off £50 payment, which wouldn’t have come close to covering what this family needed. The alternative would have been me desperately asking for donations from friends and family.”

The family is now being supported by a long-term care team, who continue to access Stripey Stork’s services.

We wish Aisha and her baby all the best for the future – and we’ll be here for them, whenever they need us, thanks to your support.

* Name changed to protect privacy.

The post A cot, a fresh start and a new beginning appeared first on Stripey Stork.

It’s been a turbulent year for the family. Mum, young and single, was moved into temporary accommodation – a converted office block – far away from her home borough and everything familiar. Isolated and vulnerable, even the daily journey to nursery required two buses and felt overwhelming.

Although Neve has begun to thrive at her new nursery, their sleeping arrangements were causing problems. The property came with a double bed, but Mum feared it was too high and risky, particularly with Neve’s epilepsy. Worried she might fall or fit during the night, they resorted to co-sleeping on the sofa. The lounge also doubled as a kitchenette, surrounded by appliances, making it an unsafe and uncomfortable place to sleep.

Their Family Support Worker at nursery, noticed Neve was increasingly tired during the day and struggling to concentrate. Sessions crucial for Neve’s development were being missed or attended late.

At the time, finances were at breaking point. Mum, already in debt, had only just resolved her gas and electric being cut off. Buying a bed, mattress and bedding felt impossible – and would have pushed them further into crisis.

A referral was made to Stripey Stork, and we were able to provide a toddler bed, new mattress and age-appropriate bedding.

The impact was immediate. Both are now sleeping safely and peacefully in their own beds. Neve’s attendance has improved, and she’s noticeably happier and more alert. She finally has the bedtime routine she desperately needed.

Their Family Support Worker told us:

“This donation has provided a basic item that most people take for granted, and as such has made life that much easier for them. The level of trust that has been achieved, and knowing that there is help out there, has really strengthened their relationship with the nursery.”

Mum is “over the moon” with their new setup, and Neve loves her “big girl bed”. With proper sleep, life feels more manageable, and Mum no longer feels she’s facing life alone.

The family now has a stronger network of support in place, and Stripey Stork is proud to be part of that. We’ve since prepared a big bundle of clothes for Neve and will continue to help as the seasons change and she grows. We’ll be there for them, however long they need us.

* Name changed to protect privacy.

The post From shared sofa to big girl bed appeared first on Stripey Stork.

We were proud to be one of the official Run Reigate charity partners, alongside some other brilliant local charities, many of whom we already have close ties with.

We are so grateful to the 50 Team Stork runners – 30 of them running for us for the very first time – who raised an incredible amount to support our ongoing work helping families in Surrey and Croydon experiencing hardship.

£20,360

* Total fundraising (including Gift Aid, excluding race fees & costs). Updated 16/10/25

Team Stork runners

Our individual stars: Chris (10k), Holly (10k), Jackie (10k), Lizzie (1/2), Maria (5k), Megan (10k), Rich (1/2), Sam (10k), Svetlana (1/2), Volodymyr (5k)

Team Unum: Achish (10k), Adam (10k), Chloe (5k), Jamie (10k), Kate (10k), Lilly (5k), Steve (10k), Ty (10k)

Team Total Energies: Ana (5k), Jennifer (5k), Josh Harvey (1/2), Michael (10k), Sarah (5k)

Team Rand Associates: Cheryl (10k), David (1/2), Rob (10k), Simon (1/2)

Team Celtic Contractors: Jon (10k), Simon (10k), Max (10k)

Team Moon Hall School: Hakan (5k), Sid (5k)

Team Holmesdale School: Sharon (5k), Kayleigh (1/2)

Reigate Heath Golf Club: Leo (10k)

Reigate Squash Club: Paul (10k)

Pen Underwriting: Paul (1/2)

nTrust: Bruce (10k)

Our young runners: Beatrice (Reception/Y1), George (Y3), Grace (Y7/8), Matilda (Y4), Millie (Y3), Milo (Y4), Orla (Y3), Saoirse (Y5), Thomas (Y6)

Injuries (but were still with us in spirit): Holly (5k), Lila (5k), Jackie (5k)

The build-up to race day

After the success of our first pre-race event last year, we had no doubt it was going to become a regular fixture. Despite the autumnal weather, our runners turned out in force to collect their goody bags, t-shirts/caps and race numbers.

Most importantly, they had the chance to meet the fundraising team and their fellow runners, and to see the warehouse for themselves – giving them a clear sense of how the money they raise will be used.

They left with lots of encouragement, motivation and excitement – well and truly race ready.

Our stall in the Events Village

As the sun rose, so did the early birds from the Stripey Stork team. We were ready to greet our runners as the area around our stall began to turn the brightest shade of orange.

Our winner’s podium was perfectly placed for runners to capture their proud post-race moments. The teddy tombola, complete with adoption certificates, was a huge hit – with 200 furry friends finding new homes throughout the day.

There wasn’t a quiet moment as our stall became a hive of activity – a meeting point for runners, their families and friends, curious people wanting to learn more about what we do, and plenty of familiar faces coming to say hello.

Volodymyr has our heart

Volodymyr is our young hero. Just 14 when he and his family arrived in the UK, fleeing the war in Ukraine, they found safety in Reigate through the family sponsorship scheme. Since then, we’ve supported them with essentials such as clothes, school uniform, bedding and toiletries. Volodymyr got in touch because he wanted to give back:

“I have never forgotten this kindness and the way it made us feel welcome and safe.”

He put himself forward to run the 5k, aiming to raise £200. After asking everyone he knew, he took it upon himself to reach out to the wider community via the We Love Reigate Facebook group. Within two days, he had raised over £1,000! He’s been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of strangers, something he’d never experienced until moving here:

“I just wanted to say that Sunday was truly one of the most unforgettable days of my life. Every runner was amazing, and I had the chance to meet some really great people from Team Stork while running. The atmosphere was incredible, and the support at the finish line is something I’ll never forget.”

We’ve been inspired by his resilience, his kindness and how quickly he’s embraced the English language. And this is just the start – his goal is to take on longer running events over the next year, continuing to fundraise for Stripey Stork.

Read more about his journey here: https://stripeystork.org.uk/volodymyrs-journey-of-gratitude-and-giving-back/

Sam and Jackie

How can we ever do justice to our Stripey Stork cowgirls? Every year we eagerly await their costume reveal, and every year they outdo themselves. They did it again! They couldn’t have raised more awareness for us if they’d galloped in on stripey horses shouting “yeehaw”!

They certainly achieved what they set out to do – raise awareness, raise funds, and raise smiles. We’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Our corporate runners

We hugely value the relationships we have with our corporate partners. Many first discover Stripey Stork through a team volunteering day – and once they see the impact, they’re hooked, looking for other ways to help. Run Reigate is the perfect opportunity.

We’re incredibly grateful to the teams/individuals from Unum (one of our charity partners), Total Energies, Rand Associates, Celtic Contractors (long term supporters), Pen Underwriting and nTrust for giving it their all on the day and with their fundraising. Several of these companies have even promised to match-fund their employees’ sponsorship – more details to follow, but needless to say we are beyond grateful for this boost.

“Proud to be supporting Stripey Stork as part of the nTrust team. I’m especially grateful for the heads-up about the final hill on the way home, kept a bit in the tank and achieving a personal best was a fantastic way to round off the day.”
Bruce, from nTrust

Our community runners

Thanks to Hakan and Sid from Moon Hall School, who supported each other every step of the way. Sid told us afterwards:

“It was an absolute pleasure to run for Stripey Stork. The atmosphere was amazing, and seeing so many runners in orange really gave us a sense of community and purpose. We definitely had a lot of fun and it was inspiring to be part of such a positive event.”

Paul from Reigate Squash Club (where Stripey is Charity of the Year) was our first runner to set up his fundraising page – his enthusiasm never wavered, and even after he finished his race he was still full of energy, eager to give his fundraising one final push.

Leo, from Reigate Heath Golf Club (where Stripey Stork is the Captains’ Charity for 2025/26), was inspired to run after attending a talk from our Fundraising team. Hearing stories of the families we support made him determined to play his part.

Our Team Stork volunteers

A heartfelt thanks to Alison, Ann, Jo, Karen & Mace, Kathryn, Liz, Marg, Mary, Nancy, the Newburn family, Penny and Viv for volunteering on the day – from car park duties, to cheer squad, to manning the stall. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks also to our fabulous Stripey Stork team who gave up part of their Sunday to help: Charlotte, Millie, Nancy, Nicola, Ruth, Sara, Sarah and Susy.

Final thank yous

• To Charlotte at Run For Charity, our brilliant Account Manager, for helping us maximise our charity partnership with Run Reigate.
• To the small but mighty Run Series team for another fantastic event.
• To Simply Sports Reigate for preparing our runners’ race packs in time for our pre-race event.
• To Lactalis for keeping runners hydrated with a great selection of flavoured milk – just what was needed after the race…

• To Head Space in Woodhatch for supplying our branded technical t-shirts and baseball caps, with fantastic quality and turnaround – helping us live our mission of supporting local.

Feeling Inspired?

If this has inspired you to dust off your sports gear – or even take on your very first challenge – we’d love you to do it for Team Stork.

We’ll support you every step of the way, and with so many challenge events throughout the year, as well as Run Reigate 2026, there’s something for everyone.

• Explore highlighted events: www.stripeystork.org.uk/challenge-events
• Browse full Run For Charity listings: www.runforcharity.com
• Or email us at events@stripeystork.org.uk

The post Run Reigate 2025 – Running Together, Raising Together appeared first on Stripey Stork.

On 11th July 2025, Rickard and Neil set off on their 3-day challenge – and what a challenge it was: cycling the Avenue Verte, the scenic route connecting London to Paris.

But they didn’t just want to do this as a personal challenge – they wanted it to have a purpose. We’d had the pleasure of Rickard volunteering with us during a GTI team away day, helping with Santa Stork one Christmas time.

He was also no stranger to sporting an orange cycling jersey for Stripey Stork. Back in 2021, a team from GTI took part in the London to Southend cycling event in support of Stripey Stork.

It turns out that was just the warm-up. So, along with his friend Neil, they were full of motivation to take on this epic adventure.

We cheered them on from near and far and were thrilled to hear when they had safely reached their destination. We’d arranged for them to receive congratulations cards and Stripey Stork medals – a small gesture to mark such a big achievement.

They shared their reflections (and plenty of photos) with us

Day 1 – London to Newhaven (ferry to Dieppe)

Day 2 – Dieppe to Gournay-en-Bray

“On both days, we covered over 90km – not too taxing – and even had time for leisurely lunches, which were wonderful.”

Day 3 – Gournay-en-Bray to Paris

“On this day we covered 136km, half of which was climbing with some tough interludes. But cycling up the Champs-Elysee to the Arc de Triomph and then on to the restored Notre Dame was truly memorable.

“It was an amazing experience – equally tough, exhausting, majestic and deeply satisfying. We got to see the finest of English and French countryside, with lots of different terrain from urban to national parks like the South Downs and the Vexin, and then of course ending in the City of Light.

“Along the way, we met a lot of very engaging and gracious people. This included a dad and his two sons from London who were also doing the Avenue Verte. We met them at the Boulangerie in Neufchatel-en-Bray and they sponsored us on the spot when they heard we were fundraising for Stripey Stork!”

We are so grateful to Rickard and Neil for choosing to take on such a meaningful and demanding challenge for Stripey Stork – and we thank everyone who supported them along the way. They’ve tripled their original target, currently raising an impressive £2,030 (including Gift Aid).

Link to donate: https://localgiving.org/fundraising/RickardNeilLondon2Paris2025

Feeling inspired?

If you’re thinking of taking on your own challenge for Stripey Stork, we’d love to hear from you. Whether it’s through one of our Run4Charity challenge events, another organised event, or something you dream up yourself – email us at events@stripeystork.org.uk and let’s make it happen!

The post Bon Voyage, Rickard and Neil appeared first on Stripey Stork.

This was the reality for Chrissie*, a Mum we’ve recently been supporting. Now a single parent to a two-year-old toddler and an eight-month-old baby, she found herself living in temporary accommodation and facing challenges she never expected.

Just as her toddler figured out how to climb out of her cot, her baby – until then sleeping safely in a bedside crib – learned how to roll. As many parents will know, once these milestones are reached, sleeping arrangements often need to change overnight to stay safe.

But Chrissie didn’t have the funds to make that happen. Her fear of not being able to provide for her children as they grew had quickly become a reality.

Thankfully, her local Family Centre introduced her to Stripey Stork. Her support worker knew that, thanks to our Safer Sleep campaign, we had increased availability of cots and beds. A referral was made, and that same week we were able to provide a space-saving cot for the baby and a cot bed for the toddler – both with bedding and brand-new mattresses, as is standard with all the beds we pass on.

Chrissie was overjoyed. The new furniture fit perfectly in their studio flat, and the whole family could finally sleep safely and soundly. She even got in touch to share her toddler’s delight:

“My 2-year-old loves her new cot bed. She had the biggest smile and when she saw it shouted: My big girl bed.”

This was the first time Chrissie had needed help. Until recently, she and her partner had been a two-income household, and she had worked as a care worker. She told us that the support she received didn’t just solve a practical problem – it also lifted a weight off her shoulders.

“I have been able to relax and accept that there’s help available. I’ve also learnt that it’s OK to ask for help.”

Since then, Chrissie has also received a double buggy from us, which has made getting out and about with two young children far more manageable. In the spirit of giving back, she kindly regifted her single pram so another family could benefit:

“Stripey Stork has been such a help to us, it felt right to return the favour.”

Family, Support. Recycled.

At its best!

* Name changed to protect the privacy of the individual.

The post Safer Sleep: Cherishing important milestones without worry appeared first on Stripey Stork.

Our Core Service

2024 in Numbers

Although we don’t like to measure success solely by numbers, they do provide a useful indicator of how well we are meeting the demand for our services.

• We’ve helped 11,571 families with the essential baby and children’s items they need, and a total of 18,629 children. This includes referrals made on behalf of specific families and items collected or delivered in bulk by other baby banks and partner organisations. These figures do not include the additional families we support with our Santa Stork Christmas campaign.
• We’ve given out a total of 52,426 items this year, including 4,449 clothes packs, 385 newborn packs and 928 safe places to sleep.
• We’ve worked with 345 different referral partners organisations who are our connection with the families that need a helping hand.

We’ve always been mindful that behind every referral is a family that needs our help, and our involvement with the East Surrey Poverty Truth Commission has helped us better understand the reasons for referrals, as well as what additional support may be needed. This will shape our future services and enhance how we communicate with empathy. Learn more in our blog.

School Days

School Days is our year-round school readiness project, which has become a core part of our work. We provide both preloved and new items that children need to thrive in education, from pre-school through to college.

This year, we’ve been able to support:

• 6,727 children with school items, including:
• 1,894 filled school bags
• 2,759 pairs of school shoes/trainers (thanks to Sal’s Shoes for their continued support)
• 15,505 items of school uniform.

To put the project’s growth into perspective, that’s a 46% increase in families supported compared to 2023.

We were pleased to launch the first of our school pop-up shops in collaboration with Oasis in Cobham and Walton Charity at The Bridge in Elmbridge. The families they support were invited to attend, giving children the opportunity to try on items provided by us in bulk and enjoy having the freedom of choice. There was also the opportunity for families to donate items they no longer needed, which were delivered back to us. This partnership is a great example of how working together can benefit so many more families. Walton Charity alone kitted out 77 children in just one day, ensuring they had everything they needed to start school with confidence.

“He really wasn’t looking forward to starting school. Now he has his new shoes, he’s walking proudly with them on.”

Young People helping Young People

Our Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) volunteering programme continues to flourish. Running at near capacity, the feedback from and about our students remains consistently positive. To have the insight from our young volunteers on what should be included in clothing bundles, and what items could be included in care packs and on Santa Stork lists, means that we’re confident the recipients will feel like the contents are relevant and useful for them.

This year, the scheme has achieved:

• 962 volunteer hours completed
• 77 students from 8 schools/colleges have volunteered as part of an award this year.
• 35 Bronze students completed awards
• 11 Silver students completed awards
• 2 Gold students completed awards

Two of our students shared their experiences:

• Dylan, a Gold student – Read about Dylan’s story
• Daisy, a Bronze student – Read about Daisy’s story

Spreading Our Wings

We are now in year two of the Spreading Our Wings three-year programme, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Here’s the highlights of what we’ve been able to achieve to increase our operational capacity and reach areas that were not supported by a baby bank:

Hubs and Deliveries

We now have 8 regular delivery hubs operating across Surrey and Croydon, enabling us to deliver specifically requested and bulk items closer to referral partners. This reduces travel distances for those further from our warehouse, making it easier for them to access our vital service. With this strong network now in place, one thing was missing – our own set of wheels.

Thanks to the support of Raven Housing Trust, our wish came true. Since June we’ve had our very own Stripey Stork fully-electric van, and it’s been working hard for us ever since. Learn more about this exciting addition to Team Stork in our blog.

Additionally, we’ve launched a new delivery hub in Croydon – an area of focus this year as we formally expanded our support to meet the rising demand. Based at the Woodlands Family Centre, which brings together 24 different services, this hub has proven to be the perfect location for reaching families previously unsupported by a baby bank.

New Space

As demand for our service grows, so does the need for space for our volunteers to sort, store and pack referrals. Every inch of our warehouse is put to productive use, and so when an opportunity came up to also take on the warehouse right next door in Reigate it was too good an opportunity to miss. Whilst it was the perfect size and location, this additional warehouse required significant work to make it ready to use. And there was also the not-so-small matter of the rental cost. Our friends at Unum heard about the opportunity and kindly stepped in to support the rental costs for year one. We’re particularly grateful to the Executive Team at Unum for believing in the project, and their support gave us the confidence to sign the lease.

The next challenge was the capital improvements that needed to be made. Cllr Lewanski from Surrey County Council awarded us some of his allowance from Your Fund Surrey and we were able to get some of the essential work started. And then, following a connection made at the Celtic Contractors golf day, we got the opportunity to share our plans with the amazing team at Overbury. The following weeks were like a dream come true as they assembled a team of sub-contractors to undertake what can only be compared to DIY SOS. New insulated roof panels were installed, a new heating system is now operational, the offices were fully refurbished, and we have a kitchen area and new WCs (including a fully accessible WC). New custom work benches and cot storage was installed, and we even got to design a sink for cleaning buggies (nicknamed the ‘sink of dreams’ by the volunteers). It is a Christmas present beyond any other, and we couldn’t be more grateful to all involved.

We will share more about the new space in the new year but suffice to say that we are heading into 2025 feeling ready to help even more families as we continue to ‘Spread our wings’ across Surrey and Croydon.

Partnerships

Unum – Charity of the Year

We continue to be grateful to have the support of so many local businesses, schools and community groups. It would be impossible to name them all, so here’s some of this year’s highlights.

We kickstarted 2024 with the exciting news that we’d been chosen as Unum’s charity partner for the next two years. They’ve enthusiastically supported our seasonal campaigns – A Gift for Mum, Stripes4Stripey and Santa Stork. It’s been lovely to get to know so many of the staff as they’ve been lending a hand on their corporate volunteering days – 131 employees in total. We also enjoyed cheering on Team Unum at Run Reigate. Their dedication and enthusiasm have shone through, and we’ve truly valued working with them. We can’t wait to see what we achieve together next year.

Celtic Contractors – a sensational golf day

In September, long term partners Celtic Contractors hosted a charity golf day to raise funds for Stripey Stork, which included a successful auction. The event raised over £10,000. We also had the opportunity to share more about our work and make some great connections. Celtic Contractors are incredible partners who support us in so many ways – we couldn’t be more grateful.

In-kindness

It’s always mutually beneficial when we can connect with businesses that think of us when they have excess, end-of-range or sample stock they no longer need. Each donation has played a vital role in helping us create bundles, toiletry packs or gift bags.

A special thank you to the following for their support this year: Etta Loves, MAM Baby, Dr Organic and Procter & Gamble.

Stripey in Schools

Our mascot Stripey often makes an appearance at school assemblies, fairs and fundraising events. We love seeing the enthusiasm and creativity from children, parents and teachers in supporting our work. This year, we’ve welcomed several new schools to our growing list of supporters.

Our friends at Dunottar School in Reigate had a very imaginative way to support us by organising a ‘nappy tower building competition’. Each year group were asked to bring in donations of larger sized nappies which the students then used for this fun challenge. Whilst the year groups were awarded house points, the ultimate winner was Stripey Stork as we then received two huge deliveries of nappies that meant we could meet requests for several months after.

The Reigate Grammar School family of schools (including Reigate St Mary’s, Chinthurst and now Micklefield) continue to support our campaigns and organise collections for us across the year be it warm winter coats, shoes, stationery, Christmas presents or clothes for teens. Reigate Grammar School also run a school volunteering elective, and we enjoy welcoming a minibus full of students each week to help in the warehouse.

St John’s School in Leatherhead organised a winter coat collection as the weather turned colder. Following an assembly we attended; they also collected an amazing assortment of preloved items and new Christmas gifts. A group of sixth-form students filled their minibus, delivering the donations and helping to sort them out when they arrived. Additionally, we were delighted that some year 8 students chose us as their charity for the First Give Competition. We’ve been supporting them with their fundraising and communications, and look forward to seeing how they get on.

King Edward’s Witley generously donated a large quantity of brand-new, unbranded school uniforms that were surplus following an update to their design. We’re excited to see where this partnership takes us next year.

Pupils at Claremont Fan School students achieved first place in their First Give Competition, with an outstanding presentation on how Stripey Stork support teenagers experiencing poverty. Their efforts secured a £1,000 donation, plus an additional £560 which they raised through fundraising initiatives.

Tesco’s Golden Prize

As part of the Tesco Stronger Starts Scheme, we were one of three projects at Tesco Gatwick Extra competing for votes through their blue token nominations. This also gave us the chance to win an extra £5,000 at their special Golden Grant event. One lucky winner would draw the golden coin from a bag of 99 blue coins and nominate the charity of their choice. Imagine the joy when our long term, devoted volunteer Ann pulled out the golden coin. Read more about this unforgettable moment in our blog.

Baby Bank Alliance

As an active member of the Baby Bank Alliance, we were grateful to be part of the Lorraine Show’s Big Baby Bank Appeal – a national campaign in partnership with Morrisons Supermarket. The campaign encouraged the public to donate essential baby and toiletry items at their local Morrisons store, which were distributed to local baby banks. Prior to the launch, we were pleased to welcome four of the Lorraine Show presenters. Their visit was featured to shine a spotlight on baby banks and the growing need for their services.

Thank you to Morrisons in Reigate and Oxted for championing this campaign, and to the local community for showing such generosity. It was such a treat to receive calls from these stores, letting us know that their donation trolleys were overflowing.

Award Winning Volunteers

Our amazing School Days’ volunteers have been instrumental to the year-round success of this campaign, so we were thrilled when their hard work was recognised with the Volunteer Team Award at this year’s Mayor of Reigate and Banstead Volunteer Awards. Their collaborative spirit and responsiveness has been integral in streamlining operations, and we couldn’t be prouder of the supportive environment they have helped to create.

This year was a double win, with longstanding volunteer Caron also scooping up one of Mayor’s Volunteer Awards. A deserving recognition for her unwavering commitment and for always going the extra mile; regularly helping at multiple volunteering sessions each week and acting as a local collection point in her community and sorting the donations received.

Special Requests

Our Stork Stories bring our work to life, as they’re real-life accounts of the families we’ve been able to help. Here are two examples of how we’ve been able to make a difference this year:

Journey of Hope

The first story is a simple request we received for a pair of swimming shorts. They were for a little boy who had endured a traumatic journey crossing the English Channel in a small boat with his family in search of refuge. He went overboard and as a result developed an extreme fear of water, so much so that he couldn’t even wash his hands. It’s a Journey of Hope, and we’re humbled to have played a small part in his steps towards recovery.

Power of Colour

The second story is about a Mum-to-be facing the challenges of sight loss and the Power of Colour. With no support network in place, she was feeling anxious about how she would manage once her baby was born. A referral was made for brightly coloured baby clothes and other essential items. Since neutral colours are typically the standard for newborn clothing, we put out a call on social media. Someone who saw our post was moved to take action; doing further research and discovering an American retailer selling baby grows with magnetic fastenings. Thanks to their generosity, we were able to make up a bespoke newborn pack tailored to this Mum’s needs. Mum was delighted as it gave her the confidence to dress and change her baby, as well the comfort that she was not alone.

The Reg Carter Fund

When Julie – a longstanding member of Team Stork – sadly lost her beloved Father, she wanted to honour his memory in a way that reflected his values. Helping to give children the best start in life felt like a fitting tribute. To ensure the funds were used thoughtfully, we established The Reg Carter Fund, dedicated to fulfilling unique and often urgent bespoke requests. Julie was delighted that her Father’s memory will live on through this fund, and we take great pride in updating her on how the money is being spent.

Fundraising Events

Stripes4Stripey

Stripes4Stripey takes place on the third Thursday of every June, when we ask our supporters to proudly wear stripes and make a donation to support our work. It’s one of our favourite days of the year – not just because it raises much-needed funds, but because we love seeing our supporters unite in this wonderfully visual way. Anything stripey goes – from cakes and ice cream, to even stripey dogs. This year we raised £5,327 and you can read all about it in our blog.

Reigate and Hartsfield Manor

We’re grateful for the ongoing support of Reigate Manor, who hosted our annual Stripey4Stripey Quiz, and Hartsfield Manor for choosing to support us through their Family Fun Day. Together, these fantastic events raised an amazing £3,482. It’s always wonderful to be out and about at community events like these, connecting with so many people.

Run Reigate

On Sunday 22 September, we returned to Priory Park for Run Reigate – and what a day it was. Our van made its debut appearance, and we had the most Team Stork runners we’d ever had. All their hard work and training paid off, as we raised over £20,000 – a record-breaking amount for us.

Seasonal Campaigns

A Gift for Mum

This campaign is so important because it shows Mums and female carers the appreciation they deserve — recognition they might not otherwise receive on Mother’s Day. This year, we distributed 580 pampering gift bags, each accompanied by a special card designed by a Reigate College student and handwritten with encouraging messages from our wonderful volunteers. Read more in our blog. You can also discover how receiving one of these gifts brought a much-needed smile to a first-time Mum.

Santa Stork

At the time of writing, our Christmas campaign – Santa Stork – is still underway. Once it’s wrapped up, we’ll share the link to our results blog (update: Santa Stork 2024 blog).

This year, we partnered with Truly Giving to help fulfil those extra-special gift requests and offered a variety of ways for the community to contribute to making up our Christmas gift bundles for children in Surrey and Croydon. We were also excited to launch our new year-round online Stripey Shop. Here, you can purchase gift bundles on behalf of someone else, with the option to acknowledge this gift by sending an e-card or printing a pdf card.

The Big Give

Between 3-10 December, we took part in our first Big Give Christmas Challenge to ‘Give the gift of warm beds this Christmas’. As our core service continues to grow, we’ve seen a significant rise in requests for safe and warm sleep items, so this became the focus of this incredible match funding opportunity.

Our goal was ambitious: to raise £80k – £40k from supporter donations, unlocking an additional £40k we had received as match funding. And we did it! In just three days we hit our target and went on to raise an incredible £94,343 (not including gift aid and platform fees).

We are incredibly grateful to our champion funder, The Julia Rausing Trust,  and main pledgers, Powertutors and The Wisley Foundation, who made up the match funding pot. As well as all the supporters, local businesses and organisations that donated and shared our campaign. A special thanks goes to everyone who participated in our campaign video, especially Comfort’s family, who bravely shared their story about how we provided a place for their baby to sleep when they needed it most. Read more about our Big Give campaign in our blog.

Finally, we’d like to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your continuous support. We couldn’t achieve any of this without you. Here’s to another impactful year in 2025.

The post Looking back at Stripey’s year – 2024 appeared first on Stripey Stork.

A warm place to sleep is something most of us take for granted: a place of comfort, rest and security. Yet, over a million children in the UK don’t have one – see Barnado’s Report. Through this campaign, our goal was to ensure that every baby and child referred to us in 2025 has access to essential items like cots, toddler beds, Moses baskets, new mattresses, warm bedding, PJs and onesies.

We never want to have to say ‘no’ to requests like these:

• A baby sleeping in an Amazon box because there was nowhere else.
• A baby sleeping on a changing mat because Mum couldn’t afford a cot.
• A child’s mattress being stuffed with old clothes to level out the dips.
• A Mum sleeping on a hard bed base after giving up her mattress for her 8-month-old.

So, we set to work.

In the initial stage of the application process we needed to secure the necessary match funding. A huge thank you to The Wisley Foundation and local business Powertutors for each pledging £10,000, enabling us to progress our application with the hope of being matched with a Big Give champion funder. We are incredibly grateful to The Julia Rausing Trust for stepping in as our champion funder and pledging the additional £20,000 needed. With match funding secured, the challenge was officially on.

Next, we reached out to our amazing network of supporters – individuals, local businesses, community groups and schools – hoping to raise the additional £40,000 when the campaign went live and unlock the match funding so we could hit our ambitious £80,000 target.

We knew the best way to convey the importance of providing a safe place to sleep was to share a story from one of those families we had helped. Just weeks before, our team had a powerful reminder of why this campaign matters through an urgent request made by the Children’s Hospital At Home team. Shortly after baby Comfort’s first birthday, her parents received the long-awaited news; she could finally come home after being in hospital since birth. But before that could happen, she needed a safe place to sleep.

Typically, we have a waiting list for cots, but as luck would have it, we had one in stock. By that very evening, Comfort was home, and her family were able to be together like this for the very first time. Comfort’s parents reached out to express their gratitude, and when we shared details about our upcoming campaign and the rising need for such items, they were eager to help.

We are grateful to everyone who featured in the campaign video, helping to bring this story to life – especially Comfort’s family, who bravely shared their journey with us.

Credit: Tom Graham Creative

As the campaign went live, we watched in wonder as donations poured in. With each screen refresh (of which there were many), we felt an overwhelming sense of pride and gratitude to be part of such a supportive community. In just three days, we had reached our £80,000 target, and by the end of the seven-day challenge, we had raised an astounding £94,343 (not including gift aid and platform fees).

Because of this incredible generosity, we go into 2025 with the confidence that we’ll be able to say ‘yes’ to every request for a safe and warm place to sleep, and make a meaningful difference for so many local families at bedtime.

A huge thank you to the Big Give for this incredible opportunity, to our champion funder and main pledgers for creating the match funding pot, and to every single individual, business, and organisation that supported us. A shout out to The Planet Reigate Podcast for promoting our campaign in episode 64.

We look forward to sharing the impact of this campaign and the difference it’s making in the new year.

Update – February 2025

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been selected as the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge Newcomer Award winner.

You can read our case study here.

This fantastic achievement is a testament to the hard work of the team and the incredible support from everyone who backed this campaign. Thank you for believing in us and making this possible.

The post The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2024 – giving the gift of safer sleep appeared first on Stripey Stork.