On Tuesday 12th November, The Buddy Bag Foundation was proud to join forces with Birmingham City Football Club, as part of their National Citizen Service Programme.
This programme gives BCFC students, aged between 15-17, who are current students or scholars of BCFC or the Community Trust the opportunity to come together and help local charities in their local area, providing a fantastic insight into the work charities and organisations undertake within the local area and how it can make a huge and vital difference.
As a charity who helps children from 0 – 16, this was a fantastic opportunity for The Buddy Bag Foundation to not only speak to the students about the work we do but also for them to be involved in packing 180 bags which are then sent to children who desperately need them. The realisation that they were packing some of these bags for children who were of a similar age to them struck many of the students, one of whom said it was a brilliant way of helping those who weren’t as fortunate as themselves.
As with all the Buddy Bag events, in which these bags are always packed with love, the emphasis was on thinking about the soon to be recipients of the items inside. Simple essentials such as toiletries, books, pyjamas and underwear that most of us very much take for granted as daily necessities but also the much loved Buddy Bear himself. Both of us representing The Buddy Bag Foundation that day were touched to see many of the students giving Buddy a hug before he was safely tucked into the bags, knowing that the next time that bag was opened, it would be by a child who needs a Buddy more than anything.
The students were keen to take photographs and to share on social media the work they were doing that morning, knowing they were making a difference to children all across the country.
As the final bags were packed and boxed ready to go, I spoke to a few of the students involved and received some fantastic feedback on their feelings from the morning’s work.
“It felt really good to know you’re helping children who need this, you start to realise how much they need everything in those bags.”
“The Buddy Bears are cute, it means a lot to know they are going to children and they will help them and be a friend for them.”
“I’m really glad I’ve done this today and we’ve learnt how important The Buddy Bag Foundation is to children and families.”
“I really enjoyed it, it’s nice to know you’ve made a difference to a child who needs it.”
The students were definitely pushed out of their comfort zones in helping with the Bag Pack and it was really refreshing to see young people helping other children and learning about the work we do at The Buddy Bag Foundation.
Thank you to Birmingham City Football Club for allowing us to come along to educate and demonstrate how we help so many children around both the local community and the rest of the UK.