Once the child reaches an appropriate age to request other items, if the family has been unable to source these items themselves, we will then be happy to provide them via another referral.
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Please make sure that your family knows the items are preloved and very rarely brand new. (with the exception of toiletries and mattresses) We do spend a lot of time quality checking items that are donated to us. In the event that your family no longer requires the items that we have given please return them to us, please do not refer the family to us directly. Gloucestershire Bundles will have no immediate contact with families referred. Once the family have finished using the items, we would be very grateful if you could encourage them to donate them back to us (as long as they are in good working order).
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In the event that we find items that have donated by us on social media selling sites or other such advertisement, you as the professional will be asked to do everything that you can to contact and retrieve the item(s) in question from the family in need that you have referred.
Please be aware we do keep a detailed record of the family names that we have supported through your request and keep a detailed record of those who abuse the charity's trust through selling items/ or attempted to sell items that have been given to them. This, in turn, means that it will be at our discretion whether we choose to help the family in the event of future referrals.
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Please check with your family, prior to referral to us, whether they are in contact with any other agency who may also be submitting a referral for them. We have been getting a number of duplicate referrals which causes extra work for us, especially when these are sometimes submitted with different family surnames on.
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We aim to get your referral ready as should as possible. Once you have been informed that your referral is ready, please make contact with us with a day and time that you, as the professional (not the family) will be collecting. If you do not collect within 2 weeks from our initial email, the referral will be disregarded and you will have to re-refer if assistance is still required. It is amazing how many uncollected referrals we have!
. It is the responsibility of you, making the referral, to collect the bundle when it is ready. We do not have any contact with the families directly. Please ensure you have a vehicle big enough to collect the items requested, especially when asking for equipment.
• With regard to stairgates, we will only provide a maximum of 2 per family. Please indicate, on the referral form, where in the house these are for, and the measurement, so we can provide the appropriate type. ***From August 2023, we will no longer provide safety gates without a report being provided by the Home Safety Team. ***
• Gloucestershire Bundles take no responsibility for the items donated, we advise that the families check the items are safe and usable.
. Gloucestershire Bundles is meant to be an emergency charity, helping families in desperate need. Please encourage your family to try and source the items prior to requesting from us. This is particularly relevant when a woman is pregnant and has approx 7 months to fund/source items. Please do not just tell them early on that we will provide everything for them like some professionals are doing!
. Once you have submitted a referral to us, if circumstances change i.e. the family find out the sex of a baby; the items are no longer required etc, please let us know asap
• Finally, and most importantly, the majority of us are volunteers that run Gloucestershire Bundles. Please remember that we have families of our own and cannot be on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If your request is urgent, please email. The phone will be answered between the hours of 9am – 2pm Monday – Friday. Please refer to our website or Facebook page for regular updates such as closures.
Please treat us how you would like to be treated in return.
Thanks
