Women and girls from the Birmingham area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered for a day of service for the local community. They assembled 130 'buddy bags' for children placed in emergency care.
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The Buddy Bag Foundation was organised by Karen Williams to help the 48,000 children requiring emergency care each year in the UK as children are often taken from a harmful environment at very short notice. The bags contain items such as pyjamas, toiletries, colours and a cuddly toy.
Siân Davies, Birmingham Women’s Leader for the Church, commented, "each bag was filled with love as the women carefully selected what to put in each one.’ Karen expressed her gratitude for the support shown, as ‘the buddy bags will make a real difference to the children not just today but in their future.’"The bags were delivered to local women’s refuges across Birmingham the following week.
The women also spent the morning finishing off 109 'twiddle muffs' ready to be distributed across Birmingham. Twiddle muffs are knitted sleeves with beads and objects attached to them to help stimulate people suffering with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Throughout the year various books had also been collected and donated to help refugees learn English.