As a parent of a 7 month old I can safely say life changes when you have children. Obviously there is a lack of sleep, but there is something more fundamental. Senses become heightened; the world seems a more dangerous place both for your precious new bundle and more generally.
It is unsurprising that new parents often take a deeper interest in what is happening around them. What sort of world is being created for the new born, what is happening in society and to the environment? Ironically, this concern runs in parallel with the arrival of a huge amount of 'baby stuff' from family and friends.
'From a Mother to Another' is a new campaign that helps parents play a small part in creating a better future for their children. It makes it easy for parents to donate high quality unwanted baby and children's clothing to families in the UK who are most in need.
Leading up to Mothers Day, parents who have good quality clothing which their children have outgrown can take them to one of the 60 JoJo Maman Bébé shops in the UK or post them directly to a warehouse. The clothes will be sorted and then wrapped as beautiful gifts. These gifts will be distributed on Mothers Day by the charity Barnardo's to the families they support as a gift from 'From a Mother to Another'.
The campaign is driven by the desire of a new start-up charity Hubbub UK to find creative ways to increase the lives of the clothes we buy. This simple act has wide benefits. An average family spends £11,000 on a child's clothing, while nearly one-third of UK clothing ends up in landfill, losing all value. However, there's often a lot of life left in children's outgrown and unwanted clothing; the fabric is not yet worn and garments tend to look nearly new.
From a Mother to Another has three elements that Hubbub believes will help to increase the life of baby and children's clothing.
The first is that, thanks to the involvement of Barnardo's, parents donating clothes can have confidence that the gift packs will be appreciated by vulnerable families across the UK. Independent polling of 1200 mothers by YouGov, commissioned by Hubbub revealed nearly one in six (57%) mothers would be more likely to pass on children's clothing if it helped disadvantaged families in the UK.
Secondly, research has indicated that families are willing to wear more used clothing if a greater choice was available which From a Mother to Another will provide. Crucially the stigmatism of wearing somebody else's 'hand me downs' will sought to be overcome by the care that will be taken to present the clothes as a gift of high quality clothes.
Finally it will be made easy for parents to donate clothes to vulnerable families in the UK. Only half (53%) of mothers currently pass on their children's clothes to help others save money and Hubbub hopes that the simplicity of From a Mother to Another will increase this percentage.
The ambitions behind From a Mother to Another are significant. If the scheme is successful more retailers will be invited to participate in future years. Potentially Mothers Day could become an annual opportunity for mothers to help some of the most vulnerable families in the UK. By doing so, they will also reduce some of the pressure on the environment that their children will inherit.