Baby Give Back Charity: Ensuring every child has a safe and equal start to life

Baby Give Back Charity:

Ensuring every child has a safe and equal start to life Baby Give Back Charity

For most expectant mums, the impending arrival of their bundle of joy is a feeling of pure excitement. Time is spent celebrating with family and friends, buying baby clothes and other essentials like a car seat, pram and making the final touches to the nursery.

The reality for the families we support could not be more different. Many of the Mums we help are only weeks away from giving birth, but they have no support and no one to celebrate with. There is no room where they live to set up a nursery and no money to secure essential items such as a cot, linen, clothing, books, pram and even nappies. It leaves an expectant mother anxious and stressed wondering where will the baby sleep, maybe a drawer, a clothes basket or even on a couch?

No children should go without the basic essentials for them to grow, live and be safe. No parent should feel they do not have access to items for their children or have to choose between purchasing food for the children or the whole family. Baby Give Back exists to help the most vulnerable babies, children, and families in our community. We believe that every baby deserves an equal start in life – a safe start. This is why we are committed to improving the welfare and safety of children in our community. Baby Give Back started on the Gold Coast in 2016 after our founder and CEO, Carly Fradgley, wanted to give her children’s pre-loved baby items to members in the community who needed them more. Unable to find such a place, inspiration was taken from our sisterhood charity St Kilda Mums in Victoria and Baby Give Back was born.

After learning that 1 in 6 Australian children are living in poverty, a massive local community effort was put in place to secure the funding and support that will help break the cycle of poverty in the lives of vulnerable babies and children. Baby Give Back was initially operated from Carly’s home, but due to the service’s high demand and growing community support, it now operates from a warehouse in Varsity Lakes.

“I had nothing, completely nothing ready for the baby and three days later she had clothes, a cot, nappies, everything … they were in a really good, usable condition,” - Egenie

The warehouse acts as a community hub for like-minded, passionate individuals who like to give back. It is predominantly volunteer powered, with over 200 registered volunteers. The volunteers are the backbone of our service, by choosing to give their time to sort, clean and ensure all items meet our safety requirements. Items are then packed and prepared for individual families distributed to them via their caseworker or social worker.

One of the first mums that was helped by Baby Give Back was Egenie. Egenie arrived in Australia as a refugee from Botswana, alone and isolated from her family, she fell pregnant and was left with no support. In her final days of pregnancy, Egenie moved into InSync Youth Services with nothing for her baby. Her caseworkers reached out to Baby Give Back and within days we had everything Egenie and her newborn needed. “I had nothing, completely nothing ready for the baby and three days later she had clothes, a cot, nappies, everything … they were in a really good, usable condition,” Egenie said. “These are things people gave me from the bottom of their hearts.”

Egenie went on to complete her university degree and is now working as a support worker herself, to help others in their time of need.

Over the past four impactful years, Baby Give Back has grown across several locations including Gold Coast, Logan, Brisbane, Ipswich and Northern NSW, through partnerships with over 200 social service caseworks, midwives and health professionals. Through these partnerships we

have provided tens of thousands of preloved cots, prams, clothes, car seats as well as donated toiletries, nappies, formula, toys and books. Over this time, we have been able to help over 6,000 children and their families. Families affected by a range of challenges including family violence, mental illness, lifecontrolling addictions, homelessness and refugees who’ve escaped unimaginable horrors. Some families, particularly since COVID-19, find themselves suddenly needing our support after a job loss, an illness, accident or natural disaster. COVID-19 saw the beginning of increases in requests for our services which was managed with complexity due to the forced closure of our warehouse to donated items and volunteers. Concerned for the child and their families who needed our support, a small team worked around the clock to ensure all orders were provided. The impact from COVID-19 will be lasting for many years with families we support unsure of the road ahead for them.

Baby Give Back is committed to ensuring every baby has a safe and equal start to life and through the ongoing support of our volunteers and supporters we will continue until we have achieved this.

There are many ways to get involved and support vulnerable children and their families through Baby Give Back. Visit our website www.babygiveback. org to donate and learn more about how you can change the lives of vulnerable children.

We have been able to help over 6,000 children and their families.