Every year thousands of children enter the foster care system in the UK. Most arrive carrying little more than the clothes on their backs. If they are afforded the opportunity to collect any personal belongings, many are then given a plastic bag in which to place and carry their personal items. It is a time of great upheaval and instability, and their first foster home placement is unlikely to be their last.

I am an ex foster carer for Bristol City Council. I believe 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. My 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.

I call this idea Comfort U Bags (CUBs) and in July 2017 set about establishing the initiative with an amazing team!

The backpacks are 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 Social 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.

The average cost of a bag and all contents is £30.

Completed CUBs are delivered to Social Services and are then placed with children as they transition into care.

We have the funds to purchase 100 bags for 2019 but what we would like to do is offer our supporters the opportunity to fund for the £7.50 book tokens that go into the bags - we recognise some people cannot commit to adopting and filling a complete CUB and these are the most expensive items that are included...and also the most important as they provide the child with the opportunity to choose a book just for them, at an appropriate level to match their reading ability.

"Reading is dreaming with open eyes"

Thanks for your support!