Comfort U Bags (CUBs) support children going into foster care for the first time

The original idea for Comfort U Bags came from one of our founders Siân who was an ex foster carer for Bristol City Council.  She believes that every child deserves to feel a sense of dignity and that every child going into care deserves to pack their belongings in a special bag that they can call their own. Her vision is to provide a proper bag, filled with comfort and essential items, to these brave children in foster care on their journey to find their forever home.

Siân pitched this idea to her fellow colleagues where she worked while on a leadership programme as part of the project they needed to devise.  All of her colleagues were equally enthused and this idea came to fruition in July 2017 with the help of the amazing team.

The backpacks were purchased through fundraising and then anyone can ‘adopt a CUB’ which involves taking a backpack and filling it using a content list which has been approved by Children Services; although the content is standard and items must be new to preserve the dignity of the recipient, the adopters have the autonomy to choose brands and retailers.

Over the years, a mixture of fundraising and ‘adopt a CUB’ initiatives has been held supporting children who go into care service in the Wiltshire and Swindon areas.  CuBs became a registered charity in 2022 and continues to help children in Wiltshire and Swindon by raising awareness of fostering and adoption and fundraising to provide the Comfort U Bags.