The Nappy Collective October 20 - November 5
The Nappy Collective is such a fabulous thing to get behind. With my little girl growing so fast during her young years we have a bunch of nappies saved ready for donation to the Collective and can't wait to be able to help others in need.
We'll be making sure we pop in some fresh nappies brought from the store as well as it's just such a great cause.
The Nappy Collective will soon begin
its largest drive yet in Australia, collecting leftover unused nappies in 11
cities and towns at over 130 drop points. From October 20-November 5, thousands
of nappies are expected to be donated by the public in cities including Melbourne,
Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Alice Springs, as well as regional areas
like Newcastle, Albury, Upper Hunter Valley, Ballarat and Geelong. At the
conclusion of the drive, the nappies are then collected, sorted and donated to
mothers in shelters and families in need in each locality.
The concept behind the Melbourne based
organisation is simple: many parents have a stash of outgrown nappies.
Concurrently, mothers fleeing family violence often struggle to provide for
their young children, often changing their babies less frequently or forgoing
other basic essentials to afford nappies. The Nappy Collective (TNC)’s solution
is to give parents an opportunity to collectively help families in crisis by
donating their handful of nappies.
Sandra
Jacobs, founder, said, “We aim to make it simple and easy for many people to
help struggling families in need through collective giving. Surplus nappies are
often accumulated by parents as babies grow quickly from one size to the next,
giving many parents a stash of nappies that would normally go to landfill.
Donating unused nappies assists these families to focus on longer term, deeper
care of their children by relieving them of short term challenges and stress”,
she said.
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| Image from The Nappy Collective Instagram on their last collective: 'Our nappies are making their way to each city's holding point to be sorted and packed for shelters and charities to pick up. First off - Brisbane! An amazing 7341 nappies collected and sorted. Thank you to our dynamo team in Brisbane and to all the families and businesses that have been involved. Thank you for being part of the Collective.' |
In the most recent drive in August,
parents around Australia collectively donated a staggering 81,468 leftover
unused nappies in two weeks. The nappies (mostly destined for landfill) were
donated at 80 drop points in six cities around Australia. Collectives run three
times a year and supply a growing list of over 40 organisations including
welfare organisations and women’s shelters. Following strong demand in other
cities, TNC’s aim is to continue to expand its reach for subsequent collectives.
TNC was
founded in October 2013 after Sandra found a stash of nappies her daughter had
outgrown. Combining her passion of innovative philanthropy with a social
conscience, The Nappy Collective held its first collective that month,
collecting 1500 nappies in one drop point in Melbourne. The concept was
successful, and with its organic growth and groundswell of community support,
the model also proved its scalability to any town or city in Australia. TNC’s
previous collective in March 2014 amassed 26,682 nappies in Sydney and
Melbourne.
Family violence rates
have reached crisis point in Australia and affect many families with young
children. Statistics suggest one woman is killed every week by their partner
and one in four children will witness family violence. In addition, research has demonstrated
that domestic violence is a key cause of homelessness for women in Australia, creating an urgent need for material aid and support for mothers fleeing family
violence.
You will find all the drop off points where you can donate your unused, outgrown or brought nappy donations to: http://www.thenappycollective.com/ by selecting collection in the tabs.
BACKGROUND on The Nappy Collective
How did The Nappy Collective start?
The Nappy Collective began in October 2013
after founder Sandra Jacobs found a stash of nappies her daughter had outgrown.
At the same time, she had recently learnt of many mothers in shelters who
struggled to cover basic needs for their young children, causing stress,
financial difficulty and health challenges for babies. Combining her passion of
innovative philanthropy with a social conscience, The Nappy Collective held its
first collective that month, collecting 1500 nappies in one drop point in
Melbourne. The concept was successful, and with its organic growth and groundswell
of community support, the model also proved its scalability to any town or city
in Australia.
What are the logistics of the program?
How are the nappies stored and distributed?
In each city, the
nappies arrive to a central location immediately after each collective is over.
Local businesses provide storage and office space during this time. We then
hold our sorting day as soon as possible. This is actually a fun and really
rewarding day, with all our kids, family and friends coming together to sort nappies!
Nappies are unpacked and then sorted by size, just like in the supermarket –
newborn, infant, crawler, toddler, junior, pull ups and night time nappies, as
well as swimmers (in Melbourne, for example, we donate swimming nappies to a
program run by Melbourne Citymission for vulnerable young mums that runs
swimming sessions for mums and bubs to encourage bonding for the mum and bub
and infant development). We then count and re-pack the nappies by size ready to
be collected by our beneficiaries. Some have special requests like a particular
size they require more of. Our purpose is not to hold on to and store the
nappies, it’s to get them out immediately to the families that need them
desperately.
Has your success inspired you to expand
the operation?
Due to wonderful
support and engagement with parents around Australia as well as businesses that
support our expansion, we continue to expanding with each Collective.
|
October 2013
|
Melbourne
|
1500 nappies
|
|
March 2014
|
Melbourne and Sydney
|
26,682 nappies
|
|
August 2014
|
Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, Newcastle, Byron Bay, Brisbane Perth
|
81,468 nappies
|
|
October 2014
|
Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, Newcastle, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Perth,
Adelaide, Canberra, Alice Springs
|
|
|
March 2015
|
Above and Tasmania
|
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Will The Nappy Collective be collecting
other items soon?
Our focus remains
and will remain only on nappies, as there are numerous organisations collecting
baby and kids goods, so rather than replicating their work, we collaborate with
them and fill the gaps with nappies. Nappies are universal, most families have
some spares or leftovers, and there is no screening or safety checks involved,
requiring ongoing large storage space and teams of regular volunteers. We want
to get the nappies out of people’s cupboards and onto little bums around
Australia!
Why are nappies so important to donate?
Nappies are a basic essential child care
need. A new born can require 10-12 nappies a day and toddler can require 6-8
per day. Families with limited incomes may have to choose between clean nappies
and other basic needs such as food for themselves. Lack of frequent nappy
changes can cause subsequent health issues and can be very distressful for an
infant, potentially compounding an already stressful situation. Low income
families may also not have the opportunity buy in bulk resulting in an
inequality of spending power.
By donating leftover unused nappies, families receive material aid that can reduce a financial burden and assist with healthy growth and development of their children in early childhood. Parents have more time to focus their energy on their parenting and other daily challenges they face.
By donating leftover unused nappies, families receive material aid that can reduce a financial burden and assist with healthy growth and development of their children in early childhood. Parents have more time to focus their energy on their parenting and other daily challenges they face.
Who do we help?
The nappies collected are distributed to local
organisations within each collective city that support families in crisis or in
need such as women’s crisis shelters and refuges, mothers facing homelessness,
parenting support organisations and community organisations. To date, The Nappy
Collective has distributed nappies to over 40 organisations nationally. These
include Melbourne City Mission, Barnados Australia, Benevolent Society, McAuley
Community Services for Women, Whitelion, Good Shepherd, St Kilda Mums, Eureka
Mums, Geelong Mums, Kogo and Caroline Chisholm Society.
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