Could you help Baby Bank Network find a home? 

Well what a mighty start to 2016! We had an incredible response to our New Year’s donation event, recruited some amazing new volunteers and gained charity status (yeah you heard it right!). We also cannot thank you enough for your on-going support. Our next big step is finding somewhere for all your generous donations to stay before they are enjoyed by the babies and families we help across Bristol.

We have been recently residing in Big Yellow Self Storage, which saw one of our most successful donation events! But as we have developed as a charity, we have simply outgrown it. The solutions we currently have in place are temporary, which could leave us homeless at anytime. Now that we are a bona fide charity, we really need to find a permanent home.

Bank Baby Network needs a new home.

Making referral packages inside our volunteer’s garages has been… well…interesting, but to ensure we are producing the best quality items possible, we need an appropriate space to clean and up-cycle items.

What exactly is it we’re looking for?

We’re not picky, but there are a few things we need for our home:

• We need a space that is at least 100 square metres (about 1000 square feet). After hosting donation events, Baby Bank Network receives a lot of items in all shapes and sizes. We need a fairly large space to be able to efficiently store your donations in a safe environment.
• Somewhere that has access for vehicles (cars/vans) is essential. Donations travel from all across Bristol, and a lot of them simply have to be transported on wheels!
• Somewhere that is close to bus routes. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to donate items, so transport links are really important.
• Preferably the ground floor. Some of the items that are donated can be quite large and heavy so a ground floor space would make things much more practical for the team.
• Access to toilets, water, electric and heating… Remember, our busy bee volunteers will need access to these facilities whilst they’re working away at sorting all of your donations!
• Ideally 24/7 access. Our volunteers work at all kinds of hours, whether that’s first thing in the morning or in the middle of the night. It would be great to find somewhere that will work with the kinds of times we operate.
• It needs to be secure. It might seem obvious, but somewhere that can keep all of your donations safe is essential!
• Somewhere that is affordable for a charity. We might now have official charity status, but we still need somewhere that’s going to be cost-efficient. We promise we’ll be good tenants!

Whilst we are grateful for all your generous item donations, budgeting for a new home is something we also need to focus on, so any cash donations are more than welcome!

Co-founder and Trustee Becky Gilbert says, ‘We could never have predicted how quickly Baby Bank Network has grown. It’s been fantastic but now we need to find a home. Having a secure base means we can focus on what is important: helping more families in Bristol’.

Whether you’re an estate agent, business owner, or think you might just know the right person, get in touch with us if you think you can help us find a home! We’d love to hear from you, so drop us an email at info@babybanknetwork.com.

By Tas Warr.