Our April wish list is now here, along with donation days. Please take a look at the items we need, and if they match up with items you are looking to re-home, we can pass them on to families we are supporting.

Please book a donation slot. We operate a booking system so that we can manage the flow of donations. If you cannot make one of our donation days or the slots are filled, please email donate@stripeystork.org.uk to make alternative arrangements. 

Book a slot

There are some items that we can’t accept due to safety concerns, lack of space or little demand. Please take a look of the full list of items we can and cannot accept. 

Items we can/cannot accept

• Please ensure that any clothing is freshly washed, sorted by age and gender and labelled. For cots, prams and other equipment please ensure that the item is cleaned and includes all fixings or spare parts in a labelled bag and where possible include a manual. 

Our warehouse address: 51a Albert Road North, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 9EL.

Any queries please email donate@stripeystork.org.uk.

Thank you for your continued support – we need your lovely donations to keep supporting families in our community.

APRIL 2026

Girls clothing, shoes & coats 

• 0-3months/newborn
• 9-12months
• 12-18months
• 18-24months
• 2-3yrs
• 3-4yrs
• 4-9yrs
• 10-11yrs
• 11-12yrs
• Teen clothing adult sizes 12-16

Boys clothing, shoes & coats

• 0-3months/newborn
• 9-12months
• 3-4yrs
• 4-5yrs
• 6-7yrs
• 7-8yrs
• 8-9yrs
• 9-10yrs
• 10-11yrs
• Suitable teen clothing in adult sizes S, M, L, XL

Equipment

• Pram/Buggies
• Buggy boards
• Moses baskets & folding stands
• Cots/Cot beds/Toddler beds (less than 10 years old. No mattresses)
• Bed guards
• Bouncy chairs
• Playmats
• Changing mats & bags
• Muslins
• Bibs

Bedding  

• Baby sleeping bags (0-6 months)
• Baby cellular blankets
• Moses basket, cot, cot bed & single bed sheets
• Single duvet covers

Bathing

• Baby baths
• Reclining bath supports
• Hooded towels

Toys

• Baby toys suitable from birth
• Sorting/stacking toys
• Board and cloth books for babies
• Toddler toys (no large playsets)
• Board games and card games
• Teen books

Please make sure all toys have a CE mark on.

Toiletries

• New and unopened toiletries e.g. shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, deodorant etc.
• Nappies and wipes

School Uniform

• All non logo school uniform in all colours and all sizes including shirts, t-shirts, jumpers, cardigans, skirts, trousers, shorts, summer dresses
• PE kits items such as shorts, t-shirts in all colours and all sizes.
• New stationery items including pens, pencils, rulers, maths sets, highlighters, A4 pads.
• Our full school days wish list can be found here. 

We are well stocked with all other items, thank you!- 

Important notes when donating

• We are located in Reigate, Surrey and unfortunately cannot offer a collection service.
• Please do not bring donations at any other time and absolutely no donations to be left outside the warehouse when we are closed, thank you!
• We are operating a ‘drop-off‘ system – donors will drive into the car park and we can assist to unload donations at the warehouse doors.
• It will be a great help if you follow our usual guidelines for donating items – ensure all items are freshly laundered, pre-sorted by age/gender and in a condition which you’d be happy to donate to a friend. This means that we won’t put a strain on our already limited resources and we can re-home your items quickly. For more information on making a donation, see How to Donate.

We know you all have lots of items to offer, so we’ve prepared a page to show you where to take the items we are unable to accept at the moment – Other places to recycle and reuse in Surrey.

We also have an Amazon wish list of new items which we continually need to complement our pre-loved packs. The list is regularly updated as our stock changes and items are delivered straight to us where they are readily distributed.

Please email donate@stripeystork.org.uk if you have any queries regarding our Stripey Stork wish list donation sessions .

Thank you for your support Team Stork

The post Stripey Stork’s wish list appeared first on Stripey Stork.

For those of you who are signed up to our mailing list, you will have already heard our big news! We found out at the end of last year that we need to find a new home. There is a planning proposal in place for development of the business park where we operate, and our lease is unlikely to be renewed after August this year. We needed to take action.

The last time we had to search for new premises it took us a year to find somewhere suitable so we got straight on the case. I’m pleased to say we were luckier this time and we’ve found somewhere that fits the bill.

We have taken this as an opportunity to find somewhere that will help us achieve the ambitious longer term targets we’ve set ourselves. By the end of 2021 we want to be able to respond to 3500 requests a year from across the county and beyond, and pass back items into the community worth £1m per year.

We believe that every baby deserves the same start, and time and time again you show us that you believe this too. 

The proposed site is double the size of our current space and is still based in the same borough so is a convenient location for all our volunteers, donors and referral partners. There is so much scope to grow the service and help more families from this new base. I took the trustees and the team to see this new unit and everyone loved it.

Sonya our Referrals Coordinator loved the roller shutter doors. She could imagine being able to easily pack the cars of referral partners with items for the families they are working with.

Lydia our Donations Coordinator loved that it is on the ground floor. Any of you who have visited Stripey Stork will know that we have always had stairs to deal with – what a joy it will be to move prams and cots without having to think of the stairs!

Debby our Office Administrator loved that there is an office space big enough to accommodate the team AND organise the items we need for events and campaigns like Mum2Mum and Santa Stork.

Running these vital campaigns in a bigger space will be much easier.

I loved the fact that it will be such a fantastic location to welcome visiting groups and people who are interested to find out more about the work we do. I’m always proud to show people around our current offices but I just know that we’ll be able to do so much more from this new site.

But bigger space comes with a bigger cost.

And whilst we have never been short of ambition, we are going to need the support of our fantastic #TeamStork community to make this move possible. So often we ask you for the items your families have outgrown, or to pass on new presents for Mother’s Day or gifts for Christmas. You always overwhelm us with your responses and kindness.

Today we’re asking for a financial contribution towards our increased rental costs. 

A symbolic ‘brick’ in the wall of our new premises, and a show of support for the service that has become an integral part of our local community.

Please show us that #TeamStork are behind us as we take this next step on the Stork journey, helping us to ‘spread our wings’. Some generous funders have come on board already but we need to show them, and other potential supporters, that the community are behind us as we take this next step.

Are you with us #TeamStork?

You can make a one-off or monthly donation here (please include gift aid if you can as it makes such a difference). Making a £10 commitment per month gives us a secure base from which to grow our service.Your contribution however small will make a difference and, as we’ve demonstrated over the last 5 years, we’ll make the new space work incredibly hard for the community.

Please email me directly at info@stripeystork.org.uk if you have fundraising ideas or if your workplace, church or community group have funds or grants that we may be able to benefit from. We are always happy to chat if you’d like to know more about our plans for the future, pay us a visit or find out more about what we do.

It’s the exciting next step for #TeamStork and we’d love you to be a part of it. 

Thank you,

Founder and General Manager

The post We’re spreading our wings appeared first on Stripey Stork.

You can watch #SafeAtLast on Channel 4 Catch-Up – it’s such a powerful piece, which is sympathetically narrated by Julie Walters and highlights a very real challenge which is happening right now on our doorstep.

If you’ve been moved by this documentary and would like to contribute to their plight then you can donate here.On Tuesday 26 February we watched with a vested interest – Stripey Stork have been long term supporters of RBWA and our team have seen first hand the amazing lifesaving work they do. In fact, one of our ‘packages of care’ had a subtle cameo appearance on the programme.

We wanted to support the RBWA in raising awareness of the broadcast, so volunteered our communications expertise around this time. It was a pleasure to be able to contribute in some way and we hope it had the desired effect.

The Funding Challenge

Funds are desperately needed for our local refuge to survive – shockingly they only have 4-6 months of funding secured, and it’s scary to imagine what lays beyond this time frame.

Government cuts have meant that local authority spending on refuges has been cut from £31.2m in 2010 to £23.9m in 2017. The RBWA currently costs £375,000 a year to run – a quarter of this comes from a Surrey County Council grant but this funding is never guaranteed and can be dropped within a 3 month notice period. Another £115,000 comes from housing benefit and the rest must be found by the RBWA through one-off grants and fundraising activity. When they should be solely focussed on caring and helping these women to rebuild their lives, they are having to put their efforts into securing funding to ensure the refuge survives.

This is why the bold decision was made to let the film crew inside the refuge, but it wasn’t an easy decision to make. As Charlotte Kneer (CEO of RBWA) confides:

“From the minute I was asked to help make this film, day in and day out, it has caused me to lose sleep because I have had to make sure that everyone was kept as secure as possible.”

You can read more about the motivation behind this bold decision in The Sun’s recent coverage.

Shocking Statistics

The documentary highlights some disturbing facts:

• Domestic abuse costs the UK £66bn a year.
• Every day the National Domestic Violence helpline receives 230 calls of victims looking for a safe place.
• 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime.
• 2 women each week are murdered through domestic abuse in the UK.
• The drastic shortage of beds means that 6 out of 10 women will be turned away from refuges.
• Refuges have lost a quarter of their funding in the last 10 years and 1 in 6 refuges have had to close – with only 302 refuges left in England and Wales.

Dispatches takes you on an emotional journey with some of the brave women and their children who arrive at the refuge.

Susan

Pregnant Mum of 3 was on the street with nowhere to go and arrived at the refuge with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, they’d fled their home 200 miles away. Her partner had become increasingly violent towards her since being pregnant, which we learn is common in cases of domestic abuse. The final straw was when her young daughter was thrown across the bedroom into the wall.

Rachel

A long-suffering domestic abuse victim of 18 years. As well as the repeated physical abuse, she was isolated her from family by her husband, another form of control. During filming, Rachel left the refuge to return to her husband, much to her support worker’s frustration. This is sadly something which they see time and time again – women often return 7 times before they leave their partner for good. But they appreciate that these women need to reach this conclusion on their own. Thankfully, in Rachel’s case she was back in two days after he turned violent towards her again.

Alison

This story is probably the hardest to watch. Alison (whose name had been changed for protection) had been beaten and sexually abused for 16 years and the fall-out of this on her now teenage children is devastating. They have been witness to the abuse and understand all too well what is happening, going through all the associated emotions – from anger to grief. Her eldest teenage son, who was also physically abused, had witnessed his Mum being strangled and had started skipping school to protect her.

They arrived at high risk because her ex was already looking for them. Unfortunately he managed to track them down through a photo of one of her children in their new school uniform on social media. Alison and her children were devastated to be leaving the safety of the refuge and were pleading to stay – they finally felt protected and then were being forced to uproot again. A hard watch indeed! They only had an hour to leave as it had been reported that he was on his way. With only 4 refuge spaces in the country at the time, anxiety levels were high. Luckily, a last minute place at another refuge became available and the family were safe once more.

Charlotte

Charlotte’s own story is also featured in the documentary, who is herself a 9 year victim of domestic abuse and has been the motivation behind the great work she is doing. You can read more about her journey here.

More than a shelter

What comes across loud and clear, is that the refuge is more than a shelter where essential items are provided, but a 6 month rehabilitation programme with access to specialist help from Family Support Workers, counselling and health advice. Each family lives independently, but becomes part of a bigger support network made up of the other families and the 8 refuge workers.

“Shadows come into this refuge and women leave”. 

Aftercare is also provided once they have left the refuge to begin their new life, which is so important in ensuring they don’t slip and go back to their perpetrator if things get lonely in the outside world.

The Future

Over the last 34 years the RBWA have helped over 1800 women and it’s devastating to think that their life-saving work may not be available in the near future. The documentary poignantly ends with one of the carers having to turn down a woman looking for a refuge because all 11 of their spaces were taken. You feel their heartache of not being able to help due to the limited resources they already have.

We’d like to take this opportunity to express our admiration for Charlotte and her wonderful team for everything they do.

If you are a victim of domestic violence, please can the free 24 hour National Domestic Violence helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit www.womensaid.org.uk.  

Media Coverage

Here’s some of the #SafeAtLast media coverage for further reading:

Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/safe-at-last-inside-a-womans-refuge-review-channel-4-julie-walters-a8798121.html

The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/26/safe-at-last-inside-a-womens-refuge-review-film-desperate-situation

The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/womens-refuges-saved-mine-countless-lives-national-scandal/

iNews: https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/safe-at-last-channel-4-documentary-tonight-time-narrator-julie-walters/

Local Susy Radio: http://www.susyradio.com/2019/03/04/reigate-and-banstead-womens-aid-rbwa/ 

Others: https://twitter.com/louisa_compton/status/1100703594108469248 

The post Dispatches: #SafeAtLast appeared first on Stripey Stork.

It was the end of a busy week at the office when the post arrived one Friday before Christmas 2018. We opened a Christmas card and a crisp ten pound note fell out. The handwritten message inside stopped us in our tracks:

“Dear Stripy Stork
Thank you for all the help you have given me and my baby. Last year I was in a bad place and was dreading Christmas. I had no family, no presents and tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. My support worker got me some things from you and I am so greatful (sic). I didn’t realise how important it was to give my son a gift. When he opened the Frozen snowman toy and I saw his face I felt like a proper mum for the first time ever. I started to get things sorted in January and got a new job in the summer. I made a promise that this year I would support what you do at Christmas. So here is £10. I hope it makes another mum feel like I did. Thank you for all you do.”

Wow. What an incredible thing for this mum to do. The Santa Stork gift of last year – an Olaf teddy donated by In Kind Direct – had such an impact that she was paying that kindness forward. We couldn’t be more grateful.

A year on and this family are in a better position but we know there are hundreds of parents and carers in our community feeling exactly like she did – dreading Christmas and wishing it wasn’t going to happen – because they can’t provide a few simple gifts for their children to open on Christmas morning.

That’s what Santa Stork is all about – you can read all about our annual Christmas campaign here in our blog.

“I hope it makes another mum feel like I did.”

See Santa Stork page for details of how to help this year’s campaign.

The post The kindness of Christmas appeared first on Stripey Stork.

Our Santa Stork campaign really does get more extraordinary every year. This year was our fifth and the Giving Day was an incredible event. Here’s a sense of what it was all about, and some special thanks to those who played their part in making it happen.

Since October we have been building up to Giving Day, which was held on Monday 10th December this year. It was an early start for #TeamStork. With the help of ASD Transport, Karl AKA “man and a van” and our reliable team of volunteers, all the gift bags were moved from storage to Reigate Baptist Church where the real fun was about to begin.

All the presents were brand new and, wherever possible, what the children or their parents had requested on their behalf. No sibling was left out and if the referral source felt like the parent/carer could really do with a boost this Christmas, then they were also included.

We had wrapping stations setup around the hall, with lots of our regular volunteers, community groups and corporate teams who have helped us throughout the year. It was a bustle of activity, with Christmas jumpers as far as the eye could see.

Christmas songs were playing and mince pies kept everyone fueled.

To give you an idea of how busy it was, here’s a time-lapse video from the beginning to the end of the day, which is exhausting just to watch:

The referral sources who work directly with the families we were helping this Santa Stork, came and collected the presents throughout the day. Although we don’t get to see the parent’s gratification first hand when they are handed the bundle of gifts, the referral sources do and we feed off the feedback they share with us from previous years and the stories of some of the families who are about to have Christmas ‘made’ for them. It really is humbling to be part of this special day.

Emma from the Reigate & Banstead Women’s Aid refuge explains what Santa Stork means to the families they support:

We caught up with Sarah and Ellie from Children’s Hospital at Home in Croydon:

Sarah added: “Without Stripey Stork I don’t know what we would do. Many of our families are in temporary accommodation and have no access to public funds because they are waiting for their visas, which means they can’t even afford the basics never mind Christmas presents. Thank you Stripey Stork for everything you do all year round and especially at Christmas time when so many of the families we help would have nothing to celebrate.”

We set up a Christmas tree in the hall and throughout the day it was covered in messages of thanks from our referral sources.

We welcomed the Mayor of Reigate & Banstead, it was lovely that she was part of the day so she would see for herself the front line work which we are doing.

The difference we are making

This year we set ourselves a target of giving 1500 presents to local children in need and 750 of their parents/carers. There are still a lot of late requests to deal with, but on the day – thanks to your generosity – we have been able to give gift bags filled with presents to:

1367 children
730 of their parents/carers

That’s an estimate of goods valuing over £45,000!

[UPDATE: including the last minute requests we were able to give out gift bags for 1517 children and 828 of their parents/carers, that’s an estimate of £50,000 in value]

It doesn’t escape us how bittersweet this message is. Every year we predict a rise in requests and sadly this has so far been the case:

Santa Stork 2017: 1040 children/438 adults
Santa Stork 2016: 767 children/370 adults
Santa Stork 2015: 487 children/295 adults
Santa Stork 2014: 146 children/56 adults

But Santa Stork has a fantastic team of supporters behind it so we are able to rise to this challenge.

We have an extensive referral contact’s database, a mammoth spreadsheet and the best Chief Elf (Lauren) which Santa could wish for, and not forgetting her hardworking and enthusiastic team of elf volunteers.

A big thank you

Here’s a shout-out to all those who have made a special contribution to this campaign.

• All of our supporters who have donated online, shopped from our Amazon wish list, or gone shopping and bought a present from our suggested gift list. Your generosity is immense – Thank you!
• All of our wonderful referral sources who made requests for the families they support, and then collected and distributed the gifts.
• Cllr Barbara Thomson for her Surrey County Council Community Grant which contributed to the rent of the storage space we needed to run the project.
• The Mayor of Reigate & Banstead for coming along on Giving Day to find out about our charity and Christmas campaign, and being part of this special day.
• In Kind Direct and Disney Store UK for the 48 Mickey Mouse soft toys, donated as part of their #GiftMagic campaign.
• Le Toy Van for donating nearly 1000 brand new Budkins – high quality wooden figures for our gift bags.
• Andy Nash and the team at the Belfry for helping on Giving Day. Also including us to benefit from the Santa’s Grotto charity donations, providing gifts for Santa Stork, donating £140 vouchers to purchase last minute gifts from the Belfry, and allowing us to be at the Greatest Show Christmas lights switch!
• The Saccone Joly family for donating 400 A Friend of My Own dolls – cuddly, soft and suitable for all ages.
• Celtic Contractors Ltd who’ve been involved every year so far, with staff purchasing gifts from their own Amazon wishlist.
• The Communications Team at Grant Thornton International who purchased gifts from their own Amazon wishlist.
• The Social Media Team at ASOS, who had their own Amazon wishlist, instead of doing Secret Santa.
• ITW Construction Products who bought gifts and stocking fillers from their own Amazon wishlist and from our suggested gift list.
• The IHS Markit team in Coulsdon who bought items from our Santa Stork Amazon wishlist.
• Fidelity who bought items from our suggested gift list.
• JLT who bought items from our suggested gift list.
• Total Gas & Power who bought items from our suggested gift list, and their charity committee matched with a donation of £180.
• The Fix Auto team in Crawley, who did an inhouse collection of presents from our suggested list.
• Busy Lizzy Reigate for arranging gifts from our suggested list to be collected.
• Gipsy Hill Brew who held a Christmas event where they collected gifts from our suggested wishlist.
• The families at Banstead Infant School who donated an amazing £608.46 by collecting money after the school Christmas performances.
• The parents at Holmesdale Community Infant School who collected stocking fillers.
• Hazelwood School in Oxted who raised an impressive £243 by fundraising at their Christmas fair and donated some new plush soft toys.
• Aberdour Preparatory School who donated £450.52 from their Christmas fair.
• Downsend School Ashtead Pre-Prep, for the parents who donated presents from our suggested gift list and books.
• Oakhyrst Grange School who collected gifts at their school fair.
• Reigate Methodist Church who collected donations at their Christmas Tree Festival and contributed £340.44
• The Parish of Merstham who held a collection at their Christingle service and raised £38.
• Surrey Sands who invited families to attend their Lights of Love service and bring a gift for a child the same age as what their baby would have been this Christmas.
• Caterham WI who collected gifts and stocking fillers at their AGM.
• Caterham Round Table who generously donatedthe funds to purchase the gift bags.
• Horley Lions Club who donated £300 towards late gift requests.
• Redhill Redstone Rotary Club who donated £165, and some Usborne Illustrated Dictionaries and Steiff Reindeer teddies for presents.
• All Things Chic whose proceeds from their Red Barn shopping event raised enough to buy 40 items from our suggested gift list.
• Tropic Skincare for donating gift sets and toiletries to use as parent/carer gifts.
• Corinne, a long term supporter who kindly purchased popular gifts throughout the year and from our suggested gift list, and generously donated them to Santa Stork.
• Esther who, with the help of her friends, prepared 56 gift bundles for teenagers and parents/carers.
• Emily, Joanne and their family and friends, who coordinated a large collection of gifts.
• The Babbage family who support us throughout the year and donated a number of presents.
• Sara who donated lots of book from her Usborne Children’s Books business.
• Tesco Community Champions who organised an in-store collection of gifts which was generously supported by Tesco Gatwick staff and shoppers.
• The Harrow Vintage Inn in Warlingham, who had a Giving Tree for Santa Stork late requests, where tags for specific ages/genders were placed on the tree for customers to take away and purchase a gift. They also raised £140.
• The other local charities involved in the local #LetsGiveChristmas campaign: Voluntary Action Reigate & Banstead, Loveworks, Renewed Hope Trust, Epsom & Ewell Foodbank. Thank you to Pfizer UK for their help with the communications and media planning for the #LetsGiveChristmas campaign.
• Our friends at Halliwell Marks, Walter & Mair, Pistachios Memorial Park, Redhill, TSB in The Belfry, and Let’s Explore, Horley who were so accommodating in allowing people to drop-off presents at their premises.
• Atkins Global who donated £250 to allow us to fulfil the last minute requests.
• RBBC Town Hall who took delivery of all the Amazon parcels from the wishlist and delivered them to us.
• Alex Whiteley for producing the #SantaStork2018 launch video: ‘Give a gift, make a memory’. Thank you also to all those who took part: Ortis @OrtisDeley, Natalie @ThisSurreyMummy, Nicola @IAmNicolaSemple, Cathryn @SeasonalKids, Sarah @PickSarah, Kate @Imagineville16, Josh @JoshPBK.
• Karl Hyder, AKA the man and a van! and ASD Transport who helped transport the gift bags on the day.
• Maraya Gibbs for being our official photographer for the day.
• The team at Reigate Baptist Church for donating the use of their hall and facilities for the day.
• And finally… our amazing Santa Stork team of volunteers – Ann, Gill, Gaynor, Megan, Lisa, Jo, Emma, Sarah S, Sarah C, Debby, Margarida, Donna, Susy, Nicola, Sonya and Jenny, all ably led by Chief Elf Lauren.

If you still want to help with last minute present requests, of which there will be many, you can still donate to our Localgiving Appeal. Thank you!

Merry Christmas everyone xx

The post Santa Stork 2018 – our giving day appeared first on Stripey Stork.

Every year Localgiving present local charities with an opportunity to make their funds go even further with a match funding opportunity. Many of you have asked when this is going to be launched and we can now reveal details of this year’s Grow Your Tenner campaign.

There’s no question that the need for our services is on the increase, but to keep up with that ever-increasing demand we are continually looking for dependable and innovative ways to fund our work. So, when Localgiving announced that this year’s Grow Your Tenner campaign is focusing on encouraging people to become long term supporters of local charities, we got a little bit enthusiastic.

How it works

The proposition is simple, but has a high impact! From 10am on Tuesday 11th December 2018, new monthly direct debit donations will be matched by up to £10. The matching will take place after the first 6 donations, and be applied to the following 6 donations.

So, £120 can be turned into £200, as if by magic! Here’s how: If a donor gives 12 monthly donations of £10 (=£120), Localgiving will match the final 6 donations (+£60=£180). And not forgetting that all important 25% gift aid (if applicable) on your £120 contributions. Voila! £120 becomes over £200!

But remember, you must wait until after 10am on Tuesday 11th December to sign up

Terms and conditions apply (see below). 

How the funds will be used

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the increasing demand for UK baby banks and we have felt this more than. So far this year alone we have responded to over 2000 requests for help, which is already over a 20% increase on last year’s total for the whole year. You can read all about the reasoning and further statistics in our Born on the Breadline blog. But the immediate question is how will we cover the associated costs for this ever-increasing demand for our services?

We have a Funding Co-ordinator who works tirelessly on grant and funding applications, and this is continuously happening in the background. We are always extremely grateful when we have a successful application, but this funding is often ring-fenced for a particular project or appeal.

Then there are the kind donations and fundraising activities from our loyal supporters, we rely on these to do the essence of our work, from buying urgent supplies to answer an emergency request, to bulk purchasing new items needed to complement the pre-loved bundles we send out, of which we average over 50 a week.

Additionally, we have operational costs like any other organisation, we have rent to pay, a building to heat and baby clothes to wash. Our operational costs are modest in comparison to other organisations and national charities, and we work hard to keep these costs to a minimum. However, we do operate in the real world and these associated costs are existent and rising nonetheless. Your monthly contributions would also be used to cover such operational costs.

The impact of your donation

It costs us on average of £25 for each referral package we send out. This includes all of the operational costs associated with making this happen. When you think that each bundle has a value worth approximately £250, this is great value for money. So, a £200 donation would mean we can help 8 local families in need, supplying them with children’s clothes for a week, essential toiletries and toys/books.

Make it happen!

Whilst New Year’s resolutions are being considered, now would be a really good time to think about what you could forgo to make a meaningful contribution in the coming year. With the added benefit of matching part of your contribution with ‘free’ money from Localgiving, meaning your investment will go even further. Giving up one takeaway cup of coffee a week is all it would take!

Rather than donating to a variety of charities throughout the year and losing track of who and what you have supported, you could set a budget at the beginning of the year and let us do the hard work.

Thank you for considering Stripey Stork – after 10am on Tuesday 11th December you can sign up here.

Some important T&Cs

• The campaign will end whenever the match fund runs out or midday on Thursday the 10th January 2019, whichever comes first.
• There is a match funding pot of £100,000, once it’s gone it’s gone. So, the earlier people sign up the better.
• Each charity may receive up to £5,000 match funding.
• Any monthly donations set up before 10am on 11th December will not be matched.
• One-time donations will not be matched, only monthly contributions.
• It is the responsibility of the donor to cancel their direct debit mandate when they are ready.
• For full terms and conditions, click here.

The post Grow your tenner with Stripey Stork appeared first on Stripey Stork.

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 very violent relationship, the focus up until this point had been on safety rather than celebrations.

Whilst Mum’s request was very modest, we wanted to ensure this little boy had a special day. We keep boxes of new items in our toy area. They’re often gifts donated to us by families who know how lucky their own children have been at Birthday time and want those items to be shared with others.

Quickly we’d accumulated a bag of brand new toys, stationery, a jigsaw and a lovely teddy. We also included one of the #Bags4School. It featured the Minions on the front and the referral source explained that the boy loved Minions and how happy this would make him.

And of course because we’re Stripey Stork that wasn’t enough. We found a roll of wrapping paper and some tape so that mum could wrap the gifts herself. And we added a few special treats for her too.

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“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 work with regularly. She was supporting a 10-year-old-boy from a family with a history of domestic abuse and chronic neglect. The boy is at a boarding school and loves it there. It’s calmer, he gets more rest and he is flourishing.

But he had so little in his room. Nothing to show who he is and what he is interested in, and it’s not a room to proudly let friends come and hang out.

We set to work. This case had an impact on us so we found out a little more about this boy. Thanks to our amazing supporters we quickly gathered clothes, toys, books, toiletries, Lego, a new desk lamp and bedding for his room and we even supplied a reconditioned iPad mini. The son of one of our trustees – a boy of the same age – found posters and trading cards from his own collection which featured this boy’s favourite football team and asked for them to be passed on.

Genuine kindness in action.

We caught up with the Social Worker afterwards who was able to give us an update.

“He was so thrilled with all the things he received and his bedroom at boarding school is now looking very homely.

His response when he saw the iPad was lovely but the thing that won him over the most was ‘his very own dressing gown!’ He told me that he had never had one before and that he was looking forward to having a shower that night and wearing it from the bathroom to his bedroom!

I have seen him several times since passing on the items and he is making good use of everything.”

Something so simple as a dressing gown having such an impact. Imagine.

Thank you for trusting us to find the right home for your donations #TeamStork. Operating the way we do we’re able to direct the right items to the right places, and we ensure that it’s almost always more than just the essentials.

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This fund is specifically used throughout the year to buy new children’s socks, pants and nightwear to complement our preloved clothing packs which are sent out to local families experiencing harder times. We encouraged everyone involved to help spread the word by getting snap happy in their stripes, and then sharing their photos on social media using #Stripes4Stripey. We loved seeing your stripey combinations brighten up our social media feeds throughout the day. We even had Councillor Mark Brunt, Leader of Reigate and Banstead, fashioning his stripes whilst chairing his first Executive meeting. Thank you for doing your part!

The whopping £1,919.50 raised includes all online donations made via Local Giving (including gift aid), as well as any offline contributions gathered from shaking those collection tins. Also included is the £300 cash prize you helped us win from Local Giving’s competition, which was ran as part of Small Charities Week (18-24 June). We came first in our category type by having the highest number of unique donations.

A special thanks to our friends at The Storytellers consultancy group. As well as previously helping us bring our strategy and vision to life, it turns out that they’re also exceptional bakers. For Stripes4Stripey week they held an in-house bake off – just looks at the selection of delicious sweet treats which raised £517 for our cause.

A big shout out also for the IHS Markit team in Coulsdon, who looked after Stripey for the day and let him photobomb all of your wonderful photos. They also had their collection tins overflowing by the end of the day, what super stars raising £216.05 in loose change!

And Redhill Confetti who we have to thank for making ‘Stork HQ’ look so fabulous and colourful for the event. The orange/blue banners and paper pom poms made such a difference. But I think our favourite had to be the pant shaped bunting – what a talented lady!

We also attracted the attention of ‘That’s TV Surrey’ who came along for the day to capture footage of the stripey scene. They started in the ‘Stork HQ’ where they filmed the Reed Business Information team getting into the stripey spirit, who’d joined us for a corporate team building day. Then it was off to The Belfry Shopping Centre where we’d set up camp to spread the word about all that we do, this specific campaign and acted as a drop off point for cash donations and new clothing items for the fund. You can watch the coverage here:

https://youtu.be/RScYxwtVOlw

This is the second year of running Stripes4Stripey and it was brought back by popular demand. It turns out that everyone loves a stripe! And everyone also loves to support a great cause like this, where they know their money is going straight to where it matters most, we make sure of that!

Thank you to all of our supporters who helped ensure the Stripes4Stripey fund is topped up for another year. You can now start planning your stripey attire for next year, because this year, without a doubt, you definitely earned your stripes! Thank you #TeamStork

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Many of the Mums that we help won’t receive a gift on 11th March. So many of them go without to provide for their children and we want to let them know that we’re thinking of them – local families helping local families.

Mum to Mum.

Last year we provided a gift for a young mum aged 16 who had been referred to us for support. Her baby had arrived 4 weeks early and they were doing so well despite her own mother not wanting to be involved with them. We were able to ensure this new mum had a little treat on her first Mothering Sunday.

Last year we provided 184 gifts for Mums and this year we’re aiming for 300.

How you can help:

Donate online. Show another Mum you care by donating just £5. We will then arrange a mini ‘pamper pack’ for each mum referred to us, making bulk purchase discounts to ensure your donation goes even further. You can make your donation here at any time until Mother’s Day (Sunday 11th March).

Donate a gift set. If you have items at home that you can donate – a beauty gift set received at Christmas that you haven’t yet opened, or gift bags in good condition – then we can rehome them too. Why not organise a collection in your workplace or community group?
Details of times you can drop these off at our offices in Redhill can be found here.

NEW FOR THIS YEAR – Buy one of our exclusive Mother’s Day Cards! Coming soon is our very own Mother’s Day card created just for Stripey Stork. As well as offering them for sale – they’ll be perfect for the special mum in your life – we’ll ensure that every mum gets one with her gift.

They’ve been designed for us by the amazing Fine Letter Co. and we’re very excited to have them printed – watch this space for more details very soon.

The packs and cards will be included with our upcoming deliveries in the lead in to Mother’s Day and (subject to numbers) in the weeks after.

So, how about you skip your take-away coffee and croissant for a day this week and sponsor one of these packs instead?

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