We need your help...

Our volunteers request specific items for families in need on our Facebook group Bromley Brighter Beginnings. If you can donate any of the requested items, please comment on the post or message the poster, and one of our volunteers will be in touch.

What Items
We are only able to accept donations requested by our Family Liaison Volunteers for specific referrals. These will be requested on our Facebook group. Please see below for the requirements for donating preloved items.

Items must be:

CLEAN:

Many of the families we help do not have the facilities to clean items, eg to scrub mud off buggy wheels.

REQUESTED:

Families rarely have space to store extra clothes or toys (ie ‘to grow into’) so donated items that are the wrong size or age-range can’t be passed on. Please only donate exactly what you’ve agreed with the volunteer.

SAFE:

Not mouldy, not broken or damaged. Not from a house with a positive COVID test or isolating.

DESIRABLE:

Toys and books should be in excellent condition, ideally like new. Please do not donate toys if they are dirty or obviously well-used. Donated clothes should not have stains or bobbles. We want the families we help to feel proud of the things we give them, to help them maintain a sense of dignity and protect their mental health. It can be hard enough to ask for help – the help you receive should be the best possible.

Our rule of thumb is: would you be pleased to receive this item, and happy to use it for your baby or child? Then please donate it! If it ‘needs some work’ or is getting shabby, then please dispose of it elsewhere.

All of Team BBB are volunteers – we have our own families, jobs and chores! We just don’t have time to clean items, sort or store them, or take them to the tip if they’re not suitable to be passed on. Anything you donate must be clean and ready to use.

If you are unable to hold onto your donations until they are requested, there is a list here of other local organisations who might appreciate your good quality items – please contact them directly.

We help families with children of all ages, as well as occasionally their parents too.

We are fortunate to have the use of a storage facility kindly provided by Big Yellow. We use this solely for the contents of our newborn & maternity packs. We source all other items directly from supporters so that we can collect and deliver as quickly and efficiently as possible.

If you would like to make a cash donation to Bromley Brighter Beginnings, please visit our Just Giving page.
Giving through this site enables us to receive Gift Aid on your donation – that’s an extra 25% of the amount you give that we get automatically if you are a UK tax payer and donate through Just Giving.

Cash donations are used to help families in many ways, including:
– Newborn packs: a large ‘starter pack’ full of essentials for new mums and their babies
– Toiletries for mum and baby
– Sanitary products
– Bedding
– Cot & cotbed mattresses
– Vouchers for parents to purchase essential items such as clothes for their children

In specific cases, we support families suffering from financial deprivation with essential furniture or furnishings and electrical items (normally bought second hand from e.g. the British Heart Foundation store).