A NEW community project involving the development of a children’s clothes bank is set to help families across the whole of North Cornwall.

Little Wrens Wardrobe has been set up by a small group of local women in Bodmin, and collects donations of children’s clothes up to the age of 16, including shoes, school uniform, toys, books and equipment. These items are then redistributed back into the community to anyone who needs them, entirely free of charge.

This takes place through three events per year in Bodmin, for families to come and select items, regardless of where they live, and having a year-round referral system throughout the whole of North Cornwall where families can refer themselves or request help.

Agencies, support workers and other voluntary and statutory organisations can also refer families and receive ‘packs’ of items they need.

Referrals will be accepted from GP surgeries, health visitors, midwives, Social Services, mother and baby projects, domestic violence support projects and refuges, children’s centres, the police, foodbanks and other agencies, to name a few, and are open to help everyone, regardless of if they are in employment or not.

The group of volunteers is made up of mums and family members, professionals and women from all walks of life, who simply want to help out families in Bodmin and the surrounding area in their free time. They currently receive no external funding.

In April 2016 the organisers held their first pop-up trial event in The Shire Hall, Bodmin, welcoming over 250 families through the door. Within the first few days of launching their Facebook group, Little Wrens Wardrobe attracted over 260 members and are currently looking to develop a website to accept further new referrals.

Founder Karen Drew, who works in Launceston, explained that although the events take place in Bodmin, people from Launceston and Camelford have also come along to receive help and support, which has encouraged the group for the future of the charity.

Karen said: “It’s all about support, and our event in April saw that people really came together. Most of the volunteers work full time, and we’re all a mix of people – some are professionals, some work in offices, some are teachers – and we came to the realisation that we need to do something for others; we know that we live in a very deprived area.

“We wanted to see how it went and if there was a need for it, and it’s been amazing with the amount of people wanting to help and businesses wanting to support us. At first, we thought people would be too embarrassed to ask for help, but I think now we’re trying to get ourselves out there, people will think ‘I need some help’, whether it’s coming to get some baby clothes, children’s clothes, any toys – and now we’re doing it full time.

“We are pledging to help all families; it doesn’t matter if they are currently in employment or not as many working families could also benefit from some assistance in the current financial climate”.

The Child Poverty Needs Assessment for Cornwall published that the average percentage of children under 16 years old living in child poverty in Cornwall was 18.8%, however in Bodmin there were 41.1% children living in poverty, more than twice the county average.

In Launceston the figure stood at a considerably above county average of 34.7%, in Bude and Stratton 32.2% and in Camelford 26.6% children were living in households that were economically deprived.

Local businesses have been keen to get involved and support the project, and individuals that have donations of baby and children’s clothing, shoes, toys and other items can drop them off at a number of places in Bodmin and the surrounding area.

If you feel you might be able to donate any items, if you work in a business, are a member of a community group, nursery, school or PTA and might be able to arrange a designated ‘Bring in your donations day’ for Little Wrens, if you have any storage space the project might be able to use or if you have some time to spare and can volunteer in a number of ways, please get in contact.

Equally if you are in need of assistance or know someone who is then the group would love to hear from you. They can be contacted via Facebook or email [email protected]