Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

If anyone wants to contribute to a charity for my birthday this year please consider giving money to Project Mama, who are doing amazing work during this pandemic by providing solidarity packages and support to refugee, asylum seeker and other isolated mums and pregnant women.

It is a fantastic cause and I've been privileged to be able to volunteer with this incredibly hard working charity.

More info about their work:

"As we know this crisis disproportionately impacts mothers who don’t have extra support, we have widened our solidarity to support mums in isolation and need in general over this period– regardless of their immigration or settled status in the UK.

Project MAMA provides antenatal, birth and postnatal support for female refugees and asylum-seekers and other displaced women.

View our website for more info here - https://projectmama.org/

Pregnancy, birth and caring for young children can be a daunting time for anyone, especially if you do not have the necessary support networks around you. For many women, this period can be very lonely and scary, which can be made worse by poverty, difficulties in accessing appropriate healthcare and governmental support and pre-existing trauma. Project MAMA stands in solidarity with mums and mums-to-be through helping building on the resilience that they already have and through growing community.

But there’s a problem

The current Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown has made a situation that is already very difficult for many women far harder. Additionally, it has cut off the life-line of much needed community hubs and support for many.

Bulking buying of nappies and formula and empty shelves along with the practical difficulties of social distancing, further compounds the isolation, poverty and other pressures that are all too common for many families in the UK. Mothers have told us that they are struggling to buy nappies and milk for their babies and are very worried for their children and themselves if these barriers continue.

Here’s what we’re doing about it

In response, Project MAMA has set up a system of delivering solidarity packages to those who need it.

This includes a weekly check in phone call to all clients and new referrals. This is to see what practical support they might need as well as to provide a friendly person to talk to in these difficult times.

Additionally, Project MAMA is delivering food and crucial baby care items – nappies, formula and wipes – directly to people’s homes.

We have expanded our support to include women in need in general, regardless of their status in the UK and are now supporting more clients that we have ever before.

We aim to be able to support up to 60 women per month during the crisis.

Such unprecedented times call for unprecedented levels of support. Through this, we hope to reach out to be able to reach out those who are experiencing greater vulnerability in these incredibly difficult times.

You can join us

If you have not lost all income during this crisis, it would be amazing if you can help keep these solidarity packages going by donating directly to Project MAMA.

We expect this crisis to not go away anytime soon. If you have a regular income, it would help us enormously if you set up a monthly donation. This will allow us to continue to support women in need for as long as the crisis continues.

It costs around £4,000 a month to support 40 women during this period.

Breakdown of costs:

Each package per mum roughly includes:

Phone call

£20 - interpreter costs for a 30 minute phone call

Solidarity parcel

• £8-10 - baby milk formula
• £3.50 - nappies
• £1 - wipes
• £3 - store cupboard ingredients
  
• £2.25 – for delivery

Thank you in advance for you support, enabling us to continue our vital work."

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.