Press release: Urgent plea for volunteers in charity’s ‘biggest ever recruitment drive’

Little Village press release

11 September 2021

Press contact: emma@littlevillagehq.org / phone: 07593 135790

Urgent plea for volunteers in charity’s ‘biggest ever recruitment drive’

Baby bank, Little Village, is in urgent need of up to 200 volunteers for its new Watford warehouse. This is the biggest recruitment drive the charity has held in its five-year history.

Little Village is like a food bank, but for clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children up to the age of 5. The charity has supported over 3,400 children so far this year and has seen a huge increase in the number of families it supports since the pandemic hit in March 2020.

In recent weeks, Little Village has provided essential bundles of items to over 500 Afghan children who had arrived in the UK with nothing.

Little Village has recently been gifted a large warehouse for twelve months at the former Mothercare HQ in North Watford and urgently needs volunteers to pack clothing bundles and sort, check and organise other donations, including buggies and cots.

A large pool of volunteer drivers are also needed to transfer donations between its London hubs and Watford, as well as delivering essential items from Watford to families in London.

Those interested in volunteering at the warehouse or as drivers are asked to sign up here, selecting ‘Watford’ as your preferred volunteering site.

Little Village’s Warehouse Manager, David Todd, said:

“It’s fantastic that we’ve been lent this huge warehouse, it means our sites, which are based in London, have much more room to operate from. The warehouse will enable us to help more families than ever before, which is essential as we have been really busy since the pandemic hit and even more so with the recent arrival of the Afghan refugees.

“It would be wonderful if the local community could come together for this massive volunteer recruitment drive, which is by far the largest we’ve held. By volunteering, you would be directly helping us to support families with babies and young children who are going through tough times.

“If you have a few hours spare on a regular basis and would like to join our friendly, hard-working team, we would really love to hear from you.”

Volunteering sessions will be available from Monday to Friday, as either morning, afternoon, or whole day sessions. Due to the size of the warehouse, up to 30 people are needed for each session.

Little Village operates in London and has hubs in Camden, Wandsworth, Southwark and soon to be Brent. The warehouse will not be able to accept donated items at present.

Little Village does not currently support families in the immediate Watford area. People in need of support from a baby bank can contact Sebby’s Corner or local pregnancy crisis and support centre charity, Alternatives Watford.

Ends

Notes to editors

The warehouse has been lent to Little Village by BYM Capital, a property development and management company.