Pelican Parcels

It is estimated that just under 20% of Brighton & Hove’s children are living in poverty. A shocking statistic that we want to do something about. We’re a small charity who set up in Brighton in December 2018 and our aim is to help provide families and carers with all the essentials for their children. We accept donations of pre-loved and new items at our premises in central Brighton for babies and children up to age 10, and redistribute them to families facing financial hardship via local family services referrals.

What are we raising funds for?

- We need to cover the rent and running costs of our sorting office, so that we can continue to store, clean, organise and package up items for our families - as we all know rent is very high in Brighton and £12k a year was the cheapest we could find for the size and it's only just big enough as we're already packed to the rafters!

Any contribution is very welcome, so if you can donate just £5 it will go towards helping us to give families the basics for their children. 

Our story so far

Pelican Parcels 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 we decided to start a charity with the aim to provide and recycle children’s items to disadvantaged families.

Our four Trustees are:

•          Shelley, who has three gorgeous children and also runs a communications consultancy. She is a Trustee for two other 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 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.

What we do

•          We take donations at our busy (and overflowing!) premises in Brighton and our marvellous team of volunteers help sort through items to make sure they are of high quality, clean and safe.

•          We support children and parents experiencing hardship by working in partnership with local council services, health visitors, social workers, women’s shelters and other charities and agencies.

•          We receive referrals and put together a ‘Pelican Parcel’ specific to the age and needs of the family. (We also like to include age-appropriate toys and books if we have them).

•          The parcel is then collected from our office and delivered to the family.

•          Our service is provided completely free of charge.

What people have said about Pelican Parcels during our first three operating months:

Grateful mum Ali messaged: "A massive thank you to Pelican Parcels for my beautiful bedding set with duvet and pillow, which my social worker just dropped off for me, I'm overwhelmed, thank you x"

‘Thank you so much for your help today. Mum was delighted at the generosity!’
Naomi Potter, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

‘Thank you very much for the parcel you put together for one of our families before Christmas. All the items were in great condition and very much appreciated by our clients!’  
Caseworker-VPRS, Voices in Exile

‘Keep up the amazing work!’
Senior Social Worker, Brighton Council

‘The family was overjoyed with their new buggy. Thank you so much for all your help and support.’
Voices in Exile

‘The mum loved it! And told me to say thank you.’
Social Worker with Children’s Social Work Services

This is where your money will go:

£5 = A set of new bottle teats

£6 = Large tub of Sudocrem for sore bottoms

£10 = New moses basket mattress

£12 = New microwave steriliser

£15 = New mum pack with maternity essentials such as breast pads

£25 = Formula for 1 month for a baby

£40 = Nappies for 1 month

£75 = One day of Pelican Parcel’s activity

£100 = Two new mattress for cots or cotbeds

£200 = Washing machine for the Pelican Parcels office to ensure we send out beautifully clean items to families

£250 = Pelican Parcels utility bills for 1 month

£500 = Salary for a much needed part-time volunteer coordinator 

£1000 = Pelican Parcels office rent for 1 month