Joy from Referrals!

Hello! For those of you who don’t know me, my name’s Abigail and I’m the Intern at Operation Orphan! I’m currently here on my placement year from Nottingham Trent University, where I’m studying psychology. I’m about half way through my year with Operation Orphan and loving every second! I am learning so much from the running of a charity to how to build a bed! It’s been such a wonderful experience and I’m so excited for what’s still to come!

Part of my role is that, once a week, I go out on referrals with our amazing Forget-Me-Notts Installation Team, helping tackle bed poverty across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. All of our referrals are amazing to experience but we had one last week that really stuck with me.

When we enter homes with Forget-Me-Notts, it is difficult to know what to expect, so I am often a little nervous going in. This referral, however, brought me so much joy! We were installing 3 beds for 3 of the children in the household. The family had recently had to adjust to significant change which has not been easy, and financial and practical support is now limited and infrequent. They have all struggled to adjust and there were concerns for the children’s attendance to school, bedtimes, routines and structure. Our hope was that by providing the needed beds, we can help relieve some of the pressure and help the family move forward and rebuild their lives together.

Usually the children are not in the home whilst we are there as they are often at school. However, as this referral was at the end of our day the children arrived home from school whilst we were there. This was so lovely as we were able to let them choose the bedding they each wanted, along with picking out their own hand-crafted blanket. It was such a privilege to witness their joy at picking out new bedding that they wanted, that reflected them. One of the older children picked out plainer bedding in their favourite colours, whereas another went for a mixture of their favourite animals and characters!

We had also had some cuddly toys donated which the younger child picked 2 toys from, and immediately ran to tuck them into their new bed for “bedtime” before thanking us profusely. It was incredible to directly witness the impact of what we do and see how much joy it brought the children who received them.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all of our doners who make this work possible. Everything we’re able to give at referrals, the beds, bedding, pillows, crafted blankets, we wouldn’t be able to provide without the support of those around us and we are so grateful. We always appreciate people getting in touch offering donations. It was really lovely with this referral as, due to space, they had requested a smaller single for the younger child. We received a donation of a bed that was the perfect size just 2 days before the referral which made it possible and provided the child with an amazing new bed that will last for years to come.

Please note the photos are used for illustrative purposes, and whilst all photos are from Forget-Me-Notts referrals, for safeguarding purposes and to protect the anonymity of those who use our service, they may not reflect the referral described.