A charity which offers a friendly hand to children caught up in the middle of domestic abuse is set to give away a free book to youngsters to help them cope.
The Buddy Bag Foundation, which was founded in Burton by mum of three Karen Williams, has begun handing out an illustrated book written by a mum who died, as part of its buddy bags initiative.
Riddly Rhymes Animals in the Wild was written by Chris Redshaw, for her grandson Noah, shortly before she lost her battle with lung disease.
Now 1,000 copies will be handed out as the foundation looks to extend its operation into helping children in emergency care.
Mrs Williams, 54, from Linton, who set up the foundation in January after being inspired by a similar scheme run in Australia, told the Mail that the book was ‘fabulous’
She said: “The children we support often leave home at short notice, so leave many of their own comforts and possessions behind.
This can be a very traumatic and distressing time so the idea behind the buddy bag scheme is to provide each child with a bag they can call their own. Inside are essential items like pyjamas and toothbrushes but also special toys such as this book which can provide comfort and become personal treasures and keep sakes.
“The Buddy Bag Foundation couldn’t be more grateful that Mrs Redshaw’s family have donated Riddly Rhymes. It is a fabulous book and it will be a real comfort for the children to receive such a special gift.”
Buddy bags are made up of all the things that children may have been forced to leave behind as they go into emergency care. The bags are handed out to children often staying in refuges across the country with their mothers and siblings.
This new book is an illustrated children’s book, which contains interesting factual poems about different animals. The mother-of-two, 67, who passed away earlier this year, was an avid charity worker and keen to see children given the chance to read. Mrs Redshaw’s children Jennie, 36, and Adam, 41, wanted to see copies of the book go to a good cause and settled on the foundation.
They decided to donate 1,000 to the charity after hearing about the buddy bag scheme. Jennie Cooke said: “When we were growing up mum was always reading to us. She was passionate about children’s learning and development even down to the way she produced the book. When she passed away she had a stockpile of books and we wanted to do something useful with them.We were at a domestic violence shelter event when one of the volunteers described the buddy bags and it just sounded like the kind of thing mum would have been supportive of.”