Carry On 4 Babies was started when a woman saw people in the UK throwing away bags of baby clothes, upset by this she started collecting them for South African babies
Carry On 4 Babies isn’t a charity, more an initiative started after witnessing a massive waste and hearing a sad story. The initiative was started in 2013 by South African Expat Lynelle.
“One day I went to our local recycling centre here in Surrey and saw someone dump piles and piles of baby clothes and I was told this happens on a daily basis.”
“On the same day, I read on a Facebook page called “Paarl Mammas”, that a young girl dropped off a baby with a woman she did not even know because she had to go and find work as she was desperate. The baby was not wearing a nappy but a woman’s blouse and old clothing. It broke my heart.”
“I had the idea that perhaps people who travel to SA can take a small bag of clothing in their “carry on” luggage and drop it off at local SA charities which helps local kids and give the clothes a chance to be recycled and reused ie “carried on”.”
The small idea quickly picked up and Lynelle became inundated with donations. She quickly started setting up ambassador roles and coordinators in South Africa to help manage the distribution side. Since the initiative has done so well it has been adopted in 16 other countries!
“We are not a registered charity and we don’t work with or accept money. We are just ordinary people trying to make a difference where we can with what we have. At the same time we reusing gently used clothes.”
If you would like to be a ‘Carry on Angel’ on your next trip from the UK back home to South Africa contact the page here.
“It takes a village to raise a child. And no matter where you are in the world, you are part of that village and can make a difference”
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