Gift A Bundle
A whopping 183 million items of outgrown baby clothing are tucked away in UK homes, yet so many still have a lot of life left in them and could be passed on.
With the average family spending £11,000 on a child’s clothing alone, Gift A Bundle helps get more value from these clothes by using Mother’s Day as a hook to encourage parents to pass on outgrown baby clothing as gifts to new parents who'd welcome the support.
What we know about passing on baby clothing:
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The unfashionable side
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. We’re producing more clothes than we can wear, good quality clothes are tucked away going unworn in our homes, and 1/3 of parents admit to throwing baby clothing in the bin because they didn’t know what else to do with them.
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It’s hard to let go
Baby clothing connects us to memories and holds strong sentimental value, making it hard to let go of them.
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Parenthood is a powerful leveller
Our research found that having a role as a parent or carer for children has a powerful way of connecting people from different backgrounds and uniting them across shared experiences.
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Gifting filters out spoiled clothing, and makes it easier to pass on
It’s much easier to let go of sentimental, good quality clothing when we can imagine the family it’s going to and the support it’ll provide. It also prevents the dumping of huge volumes of clothing that’s spoiled or too worn to wear.
#GiftABundle of outgrown baby clothing and support another family
In the lead up to Mother’s Day, parents across the UK put together bundles of 6-10 items of outgrown baby clothing along with a personalised message of support or a memory from their little one in the clothing passed on. These gifts were then checked and shared with local families through community groups across the UK on Mother’s Day.
Despite the seasonal hook, Gift A Bundle was open to all parents.
What difference did we make?
The story started in 2016 when we launched a pilot version of the campaign called 'Bundle of Joy' with the Herne Hill Forum in South London. Across four weeks an incredible 252 bundles and 1,500 pieces of clothing were collected.
A year later we got a new name and a new partner in Mothercare. 'Gift A Bundle' was piloted in 13 of their stores across the UK. In the lead up to Mother's Day, an incredible 2,000 bundles and 20,000 items of clothing were gifted by customers. 28 local groups, charities and organisations linked up with their local Mothercare store to help pass the bundles on to support families.
In 2018, #GiftABundle was expanded out to 42 Mothercare stores and Head Office. 6,055 bundles and 52,000 items of baby clothing were gifted by customers and were redistributed via 43 local groups.
Want to run your own #GiftABundle event?
Whether you’re an individual, a local authority, a community organisation, a nursery or parent group, this inspiration guide provides you with all the tips you need on how to run your own #GiftABundle event, extending the life of baby clothing and supporting local families.
