Little Village, a baby bank charity devoted to supporting families with young children (from the ages of 0-5) who have fallen on hard times by supplying them with essential items of clothing and equipment, has opened a new site in Brent. The charity hopes that with the addition of this new location, they will be able to support a further 30 families a week. Little Village was founded in 2016 based on love and the hope that they will sustainably aid the continued prosperity of families who need a little extra support. Last year alone, they have been referred approximately 5000 families and were subsequently able to help around 7000 children; an enormous number for what is still a relatively small charity that relies solely on the help of generous donations and volunteers. 

 

I recently spoke to a few volunteers and integral members of the charity who help keep the place running smoothly. A few days after its inauguration, I visited the charming and picturesque new site and was instantly comforted by the joyful atmosphere and the warmth the volunteers seemed to exude. I had no problem believing them when they stated that it had been a 'pleasure and a privilege to work for Little Village’. Their hardworking attitudes were present in every aspect of the new site, which was very well thought through and truly looked like a small boutique one would find on the Highstreet. I soon found out that Little Village had been provided with some help from Selfridges in setting up, designing and organising the store. The previous year, a then furloughed volunteer who now works on the design at Selfridges, put herself back in contact with the team at Little Village and offered her services to the charity. She and other team members at Selfridges took on the project pro bono. Paint and old shelves were donated, painters from the team were brought in to paint the beautiful logo visible from the Highstreet, which meets people at the door as they enter. 

 

As it has done for countless small businesses and charities, the pandemic brought about some unique and complex challenges for the Little Village team who 'almost overnight' had to work around the clock to transform their predominantly in-person, walk-in sites into socially distanced, appropriate pandemic system of continuing to support the local community. While these challenges may have seemed insurmountable to many, the Little Village team were not dissuaded. Within two weeks, they had managed to mobilise to develop a complete model to deliver pre-packaged sets of clothes, toiletries, and other necessities to families across the city. Now, 18 months later, the charity has had a chance to refine and re-evaluate its model. They recruited around 400 volunteers, many of whom had been placed on furlough who went onsite, with covid restrictions of course strictly abided by, and packed the bundles for families in need whilst another hardworking bunch endeavoured to call 'every single family, often with the help of google translate’.

 

The new Brent site, however, is part of a revised structure. It allows families referred to the charity to enter the site itself by appointment to choose items for their children themselves. After sending out an extensive series of surveys, Little Village determined which items families are keen to decide for themselves and, as such, will ensure that families can do so. Other more essential and fundamental items such as nappies or undershirts will be packed by volunteers onsite in the interest of efficiency to ensure that the site can support as many people as possible. In building this unique site, Little Village has reinforced their ideals of autonomy and respect, which they hope to instil in those to whom they give aid. The hope is that Brent will be a 'warm and welcoming environment so people will spread the word', and they will be able to support as many people as possible. 

 

Little Village, however, is currently facing a more immediate problem that may hinder its current mission, a lack of volunteers. As they are a charity, they rely on volunteers, both those who work onsite and those who offer up their services as delivery drivers, helping to transport some of the bigger kits to those who cannot reach their in-person sites. They are currently trying to reach out to local communities both through social media as well as through an engagement coordinator who has been reaching out to schools and churches in the area, to name a few groups. Therefore, they hope to build a relationship with others in the local community to grow roots there and gain the people's trust to reach as many locals in need as possible. 

 

The store only opened to seeing families in the first week of December, marking the beginning of a tentative, potentially incredibly successful trial run that may alter the way Little Village operates as a charity to make it even more accessible and convenient for the families they seek to help.