Help Families in Crisis by Donating Nappies

Statistics show that one Australian woman is killed every week by their partner – a figure which appears, shockingly, to have doubled this year.

With one in four children witnessing family violence, it has become one of the primary causes of homelessness for women in Australia.

As a result, mothers fleeing violent households often struggle to provide for their young children, changing their babies less frequently or forgoing other basic essentials to afford sufficient nappies.

The Nappy Collective (TNC) was established to give parents an opportunity to collectively help families in crisis by donating a handful of nappies.

TNC was founded in 2013 after Sandra Jacobs found a stash of nappies her daughter had outgrown.

She held her first collective that month, collecting 1500 nappies in one drop point in Melbourne.

The pilot was a success and with its organic growth and groundswell of community support, Sarah was able to expand the program throughout Australia.

TNC is growing fast, collecting 26,682 nappies in March 2014, and more than 116,000 in October 2014, bringing their total number of nappies collected to date to more than 220,000.

This Mother’s Day, The Nappy Collective will hold its largest drive yet, collecting leftover unused nappies in 18 cities and towns at more than 170 drop points around the country.

From May 1-15, tens of thousands of spare nappies are expected to be donated by the public in cities including Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Canberra, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Alice Springs, as well as regional areas like Newcastle, Albury, Upper Hunter Valley, Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong.

The nappies will then be sorted and donated to mothers in shelters and families in need in each locality.

“Surplus nappies are often accumulated by parents as babies grow quickly from one size to the next, giving many parents a stash of nappies that would normally go to landfill,” says Sarah.

“Donating unused nappies assists these families to focus on longer term, deeper care of their children by relieving them of short term challenges and stress.”

“This collective runs over Mother’s Day, which we think will give special meaning for our donors and supporters, to be able to directly help struggling mums in cities, outback and country towns.”

For more information visit The Nappy Collective