About Pelican Parcels
What We Do
Our vision is a community in which families and carers all have the essentials for their children.
We take pre-loved and new item donations for babies and children up to age 10, and redistribute them to families facing financial hardship via various existing family services in Brighton & Hove.
In the most recent Child Poverty Index it was estimated that 19.6% of Brighton & Hove’s dependent children are living in poverty. Brighton & Hove as a city has high rates of children in need, in care and with child protection plans and/or who have been referred to children’s social care services.
Pelican Parcels aims to provide all essentials from cots and clothes, toys and books, prams and play mats for families from birth up to the age of 10. Full list of items you can donate.
All donations go direct to families at no cost.
How We Help
We support children and parents experiencing hardship by working in partnership with local council services such as health visitors, social workers, women’s shelters and other charities and agencies.
We do not support individuals or families directly. If you need help, please ask your health visitor, children’s centre or social worker to contact us and make a referral on your behalf.
If you are a health professional or work for a social service agency, please email PelicanParcels@outlook.com..
Our service is provided free of charge with no assessment criteria. All items need to be collected from our offices by the agency making the referral.
Who We Are
Pelican Parcels is a charity designed to support disadvantaged families in Brighton & Hove.
The charity was founded by Shelley and James Bennett in 2018. The idea came about when they wanted to gift some of their cherished, but no longer used, baby items to a family in need. After realising that such a service did not exist locally they decided to start Pelican Parcels with the aim to provide and recycle children’s items to disadvantaged families.
We have four Trustees:
- Shelley has three gorgeous children and also runs a communications consultancy. She is a Trustee for two charities in Brighton.
- James is a dad to the same three children and works in financial services.
- Vic Shead is an incredibly experienced marketer, having worked with many top arts organisations in London and the South East as well as with various charities.
- Carla Pannett is mum to two amazing girls and also a highly accomplished fundraiser running multi-million pound campaigns.
Charity Status
Pelican Parcels is a registered charity in England and Wales (1179866). We operate on a not-for-profit basis, supporting disadvantaged families and carers in Brighton & Hove.
Donations
Thank you so much for thinking of donating. It’s through generous donations of items that your children have loved or made good use of, that we will be able to help so many local families in need.
Pelican Parcels office is based on Castle Street in Central Brighton easily accessible by train, bus or car. Click here for a map.
As a small charity we are not able to offer a collection service but you can stop right outside our premises and we’re more than happy to help you unload your car. Alternatively we’re very close to major bus routes and only 10 minutes from Brighton train station.
Please clean and check any items you bring to us as we want the families to feel like they are receiving a special gift that will put a smile on their face.
Donations can usually be dropped off monthly at our offices on the last Wednesday of every month between 11am and 2pm.
You can also check our Facebook page for updates or Contact us with any queries.
If you are not local, please get in touch as there may be another charity in your area as there are several around the UK including the amazing Stripey Stork in Surrey and the international inspiration that is St Kilda Mums in Australia (thanks to them and everyone involved so far in getting us underway).
If you have items for babies and children that you no longer use and would like to donate them, do please bring them along to our office so that we can pass them on to a family who really need them.
Here’s what you need to do before you bring your items to us:
- Please check the list of baby and children’s items we can rehome.
- If the items you have match what we can rehome, please either email us with a list of your items, or check our ‘How to donate’ tab to find out where and when to take your items.
- Please note we cannot offer a collection service.
- If you have a cot, pram, pushchair or highchair, these items have mandatory safety standards please check our safety checklist to ensure they meet mandatory safety standards. We would be hugely appreciative if you can take a few minutes to read these standards. If you are unsure whether your donation is safe please email us.
- Please ensure that your donations nice and clean when you bring them to us as then we can process and distribute them more quickly.
What we do NOT re-home
We do not rehome used car seats, mattresses, electrical items, potties/toilet seats, door bouncers, Bumbo seats, used breast pumps or maternity or adult clothing. Please review this list of what we can rehome and if in doubt please contact us.
We need volunteers to to help sort through donations, package up parcels and undertake admin tasks. If you can offer a minimum of half a day a week, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us an email.
As a new charity any financial help you can offer would be very gratefully received. Although we are aiming to cover our core costs such as the building rent and utility bills from grants, we still need to raise funds to buy things like mattresses and high request items such as baby formula and nappies. You can donate money online or get in touch if you’d like to discuss making a donation.
Want to do a sponsored event? Having a raffle or tombola? Running a race? Maybe you could you help run a fundraising event for Pelican Parcels? Please do get in touch if you’d like to discuss fundraising for us.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I drop off items?
You can drop items to us is at our Castle Street offices. Check our How to Donate section for details of upcoming opening hours.
Do you have a list of what you accept?
Yes, please see this list of items we can rehome.
Why do you need money when you’re just recycling items?
There are big running costs to having our wonderful building where we can receive, store and sort all the donations. Also in addition to the rent and utilities, Pelican Parcels also pays for other items such as new mattresses for cots and cotbed, or for formula and nappies and a range of other items. It all adds up!
Where are you?
Our office address is 24 Castle Street, Brighton, BN1 2HD. Click here for a map.
Do you collect items?
As we are run by volunteers we are unable to offer a collection service. However, our offices in central Brighton are very accessible by bus, train and car.
Should I clean my pram or highchair before donating it to you?
Yes please! We are a small team and if donated things arrive clean and ready to go then that speeds up the process of helping families.
What about safety standards?
There are some mandatory safety standards for particular items such as: prams/buggies, cots/cotbeds and highchairs.
You may like to check this product safety checklist to ensure your donation meets current safety standards
I have a other furniture (sofas, table and chairs etc) I would like to donate...
We can recommend that for these items you contact Emmaus – a charity that helps the homeless.
Testimonials
“As the manager of Brighton & Hove’s City Council’s Family Information Service (FIS), my team has noticed an increase in the number of families facing financial hardship and contacting our service for support. Welfare reform, the insecurity and high cost of housing along with a high instance of mental and physical health issues in the city have all impacted on the ability of families to cope with day to day living costs and the expense of additional items needed at various stages in a family’s life.
At the Family Information Service, we offer advice and support to families and make referrals to foodbanks, the Local Discretionary Fund and apply to charitable trusts for grants. However, there is a real gap when sourcing items in emergencies locally, or when the criteria are not met for assistance.
FIS works in partnership with social workers, children’s centres, childcare providers and other agencies supporting families in the city. We fully support the work Pelican Parcels is trying to do.”