How to pass on clothes/baby things to worthy cause??

[Pannacotta]

I have read on Mnet about people passing on on clothes and baby/childres things to a womens' refuge which I thought was a great idea.
Does anyone know how would I go about this, since this sort of place wont obviously advertise itself?
I don't really want to give them to my local charity shop as they are already oversubscribed. Any other ideas?
Thanks

i would be vry interested pannacotta, my loft is bulging.

I will be watching this with interest Pannacotta.

I have a boy and a girl so have a complete set of almost everything. DS was a PFB, so had outfits to change into on an hourly basis; DD was the first girl in her generation, so had more pink frilly things donated to her than you could shake a stick at. As ever, there were lots of things that were never worn and some only very lightly worn as the DCs streaked through some size ranges. (I'm sort of biding my time at the moment as I'm not quite ready emotionally to let them go!)

Two things that I have done:

1. Some friends of my parents work with asylum seekers. They have literally nothing for their babies. I made up a pack of unisex small baby things which they were hugely grateful for.

1. A friend of a friend had been going through the adoption process and had placed with her a boy a year younger than my DS. We made a pack up for her of everything - pyjamas, dressing gown, wellies, coats - an entire capsule wardrobe. DS really enjoyed helping with this as well.

I think if you can access foster parents, they also are very grateful - they can get children at short notice with very few clothes/possessions.

I have a friend who works for surestart so I pass on stuff to her (doesn't help you though, obviously! But maybe get in touch with your local surestart?)

Thanks for the replies.
Yes I did wonder about Surestart and also eg asylum seekers, just not sure how to find out about the actual logistics of donating and how to decide which cause is most needy.

I do sell a few bits to help fund new shoes etc but I still have lots of things which would be useful to familes, such as nice clothes, blankets, cloth nappies, books, toys, bibs etc etc.

Anchovy re the asylum seekers, would you be able to find out fromn your parents friends how others such as me can help, is there a national network/group/charity I could dontate to? Would like to help locally, am in Norwich.

Echo Pannacotta, any hard contact info?

Trying hard to remember which charity it was but when I got my bounty pack with DD2 I got a leaflet inside from a company who were asking for clothes for people in deveopling countries and disaster areas. They wanted everything apart from sleepsuits apparently, but that is all I can remember...going to trawl the internet to see if I can find out who it was....

nope, all I can find is a charity asking for your old bras to send to needy women. Not a bad idea though....

If anyone wants the link it is www.breasttalk.co.uk/bra-appeal/

you should be able to find the phone number for a women's refuge quite easily and you can ask them what how to donate.

would agree with Surestart as well.

We have a local charity in Southampton that supplies all sorts of things like clothes, baby stuff etc for anyone in need - would depend where you are of course

This place here is always looking for children's clothes.
Clink on the 'Want to help' button or contact Rosie on the 'Contact Us' page for details.

I would say surestart or homestart, that is what I do with most of dd old clothes and toys.

I have just given a wooden kitchen as I was going to sell it on here just before Christmas as it was a much loved set that we saved for a long time for but didn;t think there was much point selling it on here. It is now the centre attraction at a mother and toddler group and I know lots of kids get to play with it rather than one family.

have to say I don't think sending clothes abroad is a very ethical/green way of doing it. In most of these countries locally made clothes are very easy to come by, but are often made by individuals who make them to earn a living. Sending clothes over to be donated just means less business for them, and the cost of buying mass produced clothes in the local shops usually works out a lot cheaper too - so IMO better to donate money to such causes (so that local business benefits, and so that they get the best value for money) and donate your clothes more "local to home"

I agree with the local to home idea FAQ. This is why I liked the idea of giving stuff to a local womens refuge or asylum seeker centre, but can't see how I can find details of womens' refuges, they dont generally advertise themselves in the Yellow Pages...

Coby like your bra link, have bookmarked it for when I wont need my nursing bras.

The problem I found with donating clothes more 'local to home' was that nobody really wanted them, other than, occasionally, friends who had children a little younger than mine. Clothes are so cheap in this country that most people would rather buy them new in Asda than accept someone else's hand-me-downs. I, sort of see your point FAQ, but I don't think it's very ethical to have clothes that are only worn a few times and then binned or kept in a cupboard either.

Also this charity are actively looking for clothes (and donations of money too) so it's not as it you're forcing them on them.

Good point bogwobbit (love your name!). Will check them out too,

sorry bog I disagree very strongly with sending clothes overseas to developing countries. Having lived in such a country and seen "projects" handing out free/cheap imported clothes and the impact it's had on local business etc.

Much better to send money (as in 99% of cases the £ is so strong against local currency) and get more clothes AND support local business.

When I had clothes in good condition when the DC's were at nursery I used to give them to the nursyer, they have accidents all the time and were always greatful for spare clothes, have you thought about that maybe??

You could probably speak to the local gingerbread or womans refuge in your area to find out if there was anywhere you could donate to locally, there is a mother and baby unit near where I used to lvie for teen mums that were able to be found in the yellow pages as they werent at risk as such, have you tried there??

FAQ, did you actually look at the Bethany Project website bogwoppit linked to? Rosie herself has posted on MN before asking for clothes and toys for the Bethany children. It's not a "project"

Clothes etc can be sent to Rosie at her home address, and then the next time she or someone else travels out to Bethany they take whatever has come in.

I too have heard that 'people' are getting sniffy about hand me downs!
Wish I knew what to do...

yes I've looked at it before and I use the term "project" very loosely.

A township like that will more than likely be teaming with women trying to earn a pitiful living by making clothes to sell. Obviously somewhere such as the Bethany Project (which I have no doubt does a fantastic job) could be an excellent source of income if they were given donations of money to spend on locally produced clothes.

But Rosie, who knows the place, asks for clothes, not for money. Maybe you should email her and tell her how wrong she is.

From the Bethany site:

You could try contacting your local council's Domestic Violence department and asking them if there is a drop-off point or a contact of some kind. Also charities who work with the homeless etc like Crisis might be happy with children's clothes and toys.

From my personal position, I could not afford to make a financial donation to Bethany so I like to think that I'm doing some good by donating clothes, which as WendyWeber said Rosie had asked for on mumsnet (that's how I found out about it).
I hadn't thought that I might be doing more harm than good, and that's something I will take up with Rosie before I send her any more clothes.