Every day, our outreach workers visit clients all over Birmingham who are in need. Could you help us to help them?
Two of our outreach services, Gateway Healthy Futures and the Pregnancy Outreach Workers Service (POWS), work with people who are in the most “at risk” categories – and each week our staff are seeing more people in dire need of basic essentials from our food and baby bank. Could you help us to stock up?
Who we are working with
The Gateway Healthy Futures service provides a one-stop-shop for people with a wide range of social needs. GPs can refer anyone that needs non-medical help, so that includes people who have issues around things like housing, alcohol, finances, benefits, social isolation, and much more. Our Practice Navigators provide reassurance and a point of contact for the people they work with, as well as vital practical support.
We don’t normally start asking for donations until we are planning our Christmas Hampers, but we’d like to be able to stock up on more emergency essentials, so that we can offer practical help to people all year round. (Of course, this will be as well as the help we give them to access all the support they’re entitled to, and signposting them to other agencies for support.)
How can you help?
To help us stock up, we’ve expanded our donations list to include things that our Gateway Healthy Futures clients might need, as well as our POWS clients. If you’re able to donate any of the below items, they would be gratefully accepted at our offices: Floor 5, Chamber of Commerce, 75 Harborne Road, B15 3DH. Alternatively give us a ring on 0121 456 7820 and we can arrange pickup. We’d also love it if you could share this list with your contacts.
Imperishable food (unopened):
Tins – beans, soup, custard, peas, beans, fish (tuna, mackerel, pilchards) etc.
Rice
Flour
Herbs and spices
Lentils
Pasta
Pasta sauces/jars of sauce
Biscuits
Some sweets and chocolate would be nice
Toiletries (unopened) for men and women:
Toilet rolls
Toothpaste/toothbrushes
Shampoo/soap/shower gel
Body lotion/moisturiser/hand cream
Other useful items for men and women:
Packs of underwear, socks (these need to be new)
Woolly hats, gloves, blankets (second hand is fine if clean and in good condition)
Slippers – with backs, not slip-on (these need to be new)
Pregnancy Outreach Workers Service (POWS)
POWS works with pregnant women who have a low medical risk and high social risk, dealing with issues including temporary accommodation, homelessness, substance misuse, domestic abuse, offending, newly arrived communities, poor mental health and safeguarding. So our donations list for POWS clients includes some extras that will be especially helpful to new mums and mums-to-be.
Toiletries (unopened) for POWS clients, including:
Sanitary towels – the larger “maxi pad” type is better for new mums
Newborn nappies
Baby wipes
Cotton wool
Baby bath wash
Baby lotion
Baby clothes – up to twelve months as we have little space to store them (second hand is fine if clean and in good condition)
Books and toys for mums who may also have older children (second hand is fine if clean and in good condition)
We’ve also updated our Amazon wishlist, where you can buy items and choose to have them sent directly to our office.
Thank you very much.
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