Re-Use Littleborough set up to help children in Africa and Rochdale

Re-Use Littleborough

Re-Use Littleborough has been set up to collect unwanted goods to help local children, as well as children in Africa.

Set up by Littleborough resident Michael Bamford, the group started as a way of collecting donations of unwanted baby clothes, children’s clothes and toys that families were likely to dispose of to support a baby home in Tanzania.

Speaking to Rochdale Online, Michael said: “I met someone who was knitting blankets for a baby home in Tanzania and I said ‘well isn’t it too hot to send over these thick blankets?’ and I was told that they are used on the concrete floor so that the babies can lie on them. I then looked into the home a bit more and thought that instead of throwing away things that aren’t of any use anymore, they could be sent to the home.”

Forever Angels is a charity that runs a baby home in Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The home provides a stable, loving home for up to 60 orphaned and abandoned babies and infants from 0 to five-years-old, who are severely disadvantaged.

Before deciding to go ahead with his project, Michael recalls taking some old carpet to the tip and witnessing a man throwing away three bikes.

He added: “They were simply being thrown away because the children had outgrown them and it was likely that they would get new ones at Christmas. I think we are in that culture where it is easy to throw things away when really they could be re-used.”

Michael is now asking that instead of throwing away items that could be re-used, they are donated to his cause to be given to someone who could use them.

“This started out as an idea for helping the children in the baby home in Africa but it has now become much more than that. Because it is a hot country, things like winter coats and boots that I have been given can be donated to people locally. I have been in touch with social services and said that I have some things that they could use to give to people who may need them,” added Michael.

Since starting the group just over a month ago, Michael has been inundated with support from local residents.

He said: “The support has been amazing. It has been absolutely amazing. Rochdale Boroughwide Housing were kind enough to give us a shop so people could drop things off. We opened that on Friday and by Saturday it was full. I’ve got thousands of pairs of shoes, baby clothes and toys.”

Michael plans to fill a 40 foot container with the donations and ship it to Tanzania at the end of January.

“These aren’t Christmas presents for these children. These are life changing gifts so if people have things after Christmas that they want to donate, then we will still be collecting,” said Michael.

For anyone wanting to donate goods to Michael’s cause, then the drop off shop is located on Stevenson Square, near Smallbridge Library.