#GiftABundle inspiration guide
share outgrown baby clothing and help support local families
www.mothercare.com 1
welcome to the club Children’s clothes are much more than just the threads on their backs. They are woven with memories but are quickly outgrown, often with a lot of life left in them. An estimated 183 million items of outgrown baby clothing are stashed in UK homes, enough to provide over 250 items for each baby born in the UK each year. Whilst many parents do pass on outgrown clothing, 1/3 of parents have still said they’ve thrown clothing in the bin because they didn’t know what else to do with it. #GiftABundle is a Mother’s Day campaign from charity Hubbub UK and mothercare that makes it easy for parents to pass on their good quality, outgrown baby clothes to families who can benefit from them. It celebrates parenthood, connects the community, helps families save money and reduces waste. Whether you’re an individual, a local authority, a community organisation, a nursery or parent group, this guide provides you with guidance on how to run your own #GiftABundle event. If you do run a #GiftABundle event, keep us in the loop: hello@hubbub.org.uk
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how to run a baby clothing swap
Whilst the passing on and swapping of baby clothing isn’t uncommon, many parents say that due to busy schedules, they often need a reminder or a prompt to dig out outgrown baby clothing. 183 million items of which are estimated to be stashed in UK homes. Use #GiftABundle as a reminder and an excuse to get together with other parents and swap your good quality, outgrown baby clothing. It’s a great way to keep up with fast growing little ones, as well as getting most value from your clothes. You can go as little or big as you like.
something little Do something little and low-key with friends, flatmates, neighbours or colleagues. It could be as simple as having people over to someones house for a cup of tea/coffee and a swish. You could even tie a swish into any regular meet ups you have with other parents.
more than baby clothes Swishes can be broad and can include all types of clothing, it doesn’t have to just be baby clothes. You could expand to include maternity wear, toys, gadgets, books and all sorts of other baby accessories.
something bigger If you want to do something a little bigger, you could link up with an NCT group, a community group or the wider public. You could even tie a swish event onto the end of a baby or toddler class you already attend. If you do decide to go big and host an event, you may want to consider a simple token system so people can take as many items as they bring. Be sure to check the quality of clothing that people bring with them.
share your swap with #GiftABundle 3
how to run a #GiftABundle event
In the lead up to Mother’s Day, Hubbub and mothercare offer #GiftABundle collection points in selected mothercare stores across the country. However, Hubbub and mothercare would love to see #GiftABundle take a life of its own, so guide gives an example of a simple one-off event which you could run in your community to collect and pass on outgrown baby clothing to support local families. If you’re interested in running a much larger event or campaign please contact hello@hubbub.org.uk for a more detailed guide.
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ick a community group or network who P - Venue could benefit from receiving gifts of clothing. - Refreshments Speak to them to find out what their specific - Gift packaging e.g. shoeclothing needs are for supporting families. boxes, simple brown paper Think about age and season. bags. Choose a location for your event: this is where your local networks come in. Have a think We can provide templates for: about contacting local cafés, community halls, - Event posters church halls or any other communal spaces - Gift tags people already use. If you explain what the event is for, they may be willing to let you use it Please contact for free. A cafe is ideal as you then don’t need hello@hubbub.org.uk. to worry about arranging refreshments. Pick a date, time and send an invite to parents you know, and ask them to share with other parents they know. Setting aside 1-2 hours is worthwhile. A Facebook event is an easy way to spread the word. Local NetMums and MumsNet sites are great platforms for listing events for free.
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e clear about what you need parents to do: ask parents to bring along good quality, B outgrown baby clothing which you can sort together into gifts. If the community group specified types or ages of clothing, let people know so you only collect and gift what there is a need for. Generally we find that smaller clothing between premature - three years much easier to pass on. 5. Something for the kids? If it’s likely kids will be coming along too, have a think about activities they can get involved in. Something as simple as crayons and colouring pens might be handy so children can decorate the gift cards. 6. Spread the word: don’t forget to invite the community groups who will be gifting the clothes on. Utilise local networks and notice boards to let people know the event is going on. Can you put a poster up in the venue, cafe or hall? 7. Sorting on the day: we found that six - ten garments makes a good sized gift. Check the quality of clothing and sort them into categories by age, season and if necessary, gender. We can provide template gift tags to mark these details. Make sure to leave out any clothes that are stained, too worn or holey. A good rule of thumb is if you’re in doubt, leave it out. Any clothing of this sort can be recycled in a textiles recycling bank. 8. Gifting: have a think about what materials people are likely to have at home for packaging the gifts. Things like shoeboxes or paper bags could be easy to access. 9. Measuring impact: a simple counting of the number of clothes sorted and gifts put together means you can keep track and we can include your event in the wider campaign measurement. Please keep us posted! 10. Celebrate: the difference you’ve made. Take photos and capture the stories shared and use #GiftABundle to share them on social media. We’ll keep an eye out so we can share and thank you too. 4.
If you’re located near a participating mothercare store (visit www.hubbub.org.uk for details), you’re welcome to link your event up with the wider campaign by picking up #GiftABundle bags for your event, and dropping your collected gifts off at a collection point in store. These will then be gifted to the store’s selected community group.
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thank you for being a part of #GiftABundle
if you have any questions please get in touch hello@hubbub.org.uk
www.mothercare.com
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