An update on Foodbank & Growbaby
December and January have brought many donations through our doors, from generous people across Birmingham!
Foodbank
Over 450 bags of food and toiletries were donated through the Reverse Advent Calendar scheme in 2019!
Schools, businesses, individuals and families got involved; thank you to everyone who donated items and did acts of kindness over Advent. A special thanks to Lordswood School, Bartley Green School, DWP, The Developer Group, Mott McDonald and HSBC for their donations.
With so many donations coming in, we had a cracking team of small groups come to sort the food into bags for distribution. In just over an hour, 36 volunteers sorted 187 bags of food and toiletries!
The bags are now being distributed to our partner agencies including Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid, South and City College, Ravenhurst Cottages, Adavu, West Midlands Anti-Slavery Network, Aspire, Homeless Patient Pathway at City and Sandwell Hospitals.
Some donations reached families in time for Christmas. One mum, who had nothing for her kids for Christmas, was overjoyed at receiving Foodbank bags and some selection boxes. The women helped by W.A.I.T.S. (Women Acting In Today’s Society) were in tears as they received food and toiletries because they had nothing and were so grateful.
Thank you for your donations which bless so many!
Growbaby
The Growbaby programme is in its 4th year and have helped over 1100 families with thousands of donations from people across Birmingham.
Believing that no child under 5 should go without, Growbaby supplies free equipment, toys and nearly new clothing to families in need, and also offers a Stay and Play group which provides community amongst families each week.
In December and January we saw a huge amount of donations coming in from people around Birmingham, and also a large number of agency workers calling in need of baby supplies for their clients as the holiday season can be so difficult.
Growbaby volunteers serve a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, some who have come from extremely difficult circumstances.
A Growbaby story…
An Iranian couple were two of the first visitors to Growbaby. The mum was 8 months pregnant and had just travelled through 9 countries - including a long stay in the Calais ‘jungle’ - to get to safety. They had very little English and were staying in emergency accommodation with nothing for their new baby. At Growbaby we were able to equip them with everything they needed to welcome this little one to the world. We continued to see them, and 2 years later they had another little girl. Over time they collected items from Growbaby that they needed. On one occasion they were gifted a brand-new double buggy still in its box from a friend. Instead of keeping the new buggy, they gave it to Growbaby and kept their old buggy! They dearly wanted someone in their position to have something new. Their journey has been a rocky one, but throughout they have never once complained and have always taken opportunities to give thanks with overflowing and generous hearts.
If you would like to get involved in the Foodbank or Growbaby programmes, or would like more information on how to engage your work or school groups with giving donations, please contact us at info@birminghamvineyard.com