“I don’t want my children to worry about how I will buy them the things they need for school. All children want to do is fit in with their peers and the thought that they may face bullying because I can’t afford what is essential for school life breaks my heart.” Mum

We’ve been supporting a Mum of three school children – ages 8, 11 and 14 – with school uniforms, footwear and coats so her children are prepared for school life. Mum had to give up work due to ill health and she’s a single parent providing for her children on her own. The daily struggle to provide the basics is real; prioritising feeding them and keeping the house warm leaves nothing at the end of the day. Purchasing school essentials for three growing children would have undoubtedly plunged them further into debt.

Mum shields the youngest from financial worries, but the two eldest understand all too well that money is extremely tight and that any ‘asks’ will push them further into the red. So, they refrain from asking because they don’t want their Mum to worry or feel bad. However, she can see what they need and it breaks her heart that they are going without. With the children being on free school meals, they are entitled to some help from the school with branded uniform, which they are grateful for, but as every parent knows there’s so much more needed when it comes to kitting out children for school.

They have been well supported through Good Company and couldn’t have imagined surviving this past winter without their support, on both a practical and emotional level. The Good Company, a charity which the Epsom & Ewell Foodbank is a part of, is one of our key partners and a delivery hub, who we work closely with to support families.

By supporting our School Days campaign you can help us to maintain a good supply of generic school uniforms, shoes, trainers, coats, bags and equipment so children like these are prepared for school life and all its potential, regardless of their circumstances. You can read about the impact of our School Days campaign in 2023 in our blog.

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Although they are now safe and they are together, on moving in they had very little in terms of possessions with money being extremely tight. Their social worker has used our services many times before so knew we’d be able to help without delay. It was crucial that at such a difficult time, they quickly felt settled and secure in their new home.

An order was placed for each child for clothes (enough for a week), books and new school bags filled with accessories with it being the start of the academic year. The family were overwhelmed with the bundle delivered by their social worker. So much so that the girls, aged 9 and 11, felt compelled to express their thanks in writing a letter each addressed to Stripey Stork, written with the very same stationery included with their bags. They wanted to let us and everyone involved know what these gifts meant to them.

“Thank you for the clothes and school supplies, I’ve named my bag Strawberry because it’s red. I love everything!! And I mean everything!! You’re really amazing and helpful.”

“Thank you so much for everything you gave us. I love everything so much and wish good luck for you.”

The fact that the eldest affectionately named her bag Strawberry just goes to show how precious it is to her.

It’s difficult to know how much they understand of their situation, and we can only hope that with support the whole family have happier times. But, if they remember anything at all then let it be that people cared, there was kindness and once upon a time there was a bag called Strawberry that made a little girl very happy.

Putting smiles on these two girls’ faces when life has been so unfair – that’s all we need to know to spur us on to keep doing what we do. Thank you for helping us make stories like this possible.

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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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