Our Story
Who we are
We aim to be the go-to service for anyone struggling to afford the essential day to day clothing for themselves or their children. We can also supply the much needed essential items for newborn babies.
Our Aims & Beliefs
Our belief is that no child or adult should have to be without clothing fit for all seasons, with changes. We also believe that all newborn babies and young children should not be without…
Enough clothing for all seasons with changes
Comfortable season appropriate footwear for each stage of growth
Age appropriate bed and suitable bedding
Key equipment and care products for the day to day care of an infant
A bit about us
Monklands Family & Clothing Aid was founded in 2020 by the charity Diamonds in the Community whose aim is to provide much needed services that are currently missing from their local area of Airdrie, Coatbridge and the surrounding areas.
We were asked if we would be interested in creating a resource to help people in the Airdrie & Coatbridge areas with much needed clothing for full family members as well as babies along with the most essential items required to raise a young child in a fit and healthy manner.
We quickly started to gather the resources required via social media appeals, word of mouth and community drives. Then working with various organisations and authorities we quickly started to recieve our first referrals and got to work helping those in need. Now with our first premises secured we hope to grow the organisation and help as many families in our community as possible.
Our volunteers
Monklands Family & Clothing Aid has a core group of volunteers from various walks of life but who all have the qualities of empathy, passion and the want to make a difference to the lives of others in their community.
We are indebted to these wonderful volunteers, without whom we simply would not be able to function given the huge amount of work that goes into collecting and sorting our resources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hopefully, the list below will tell you everything you need to know but if there’s anything else, you can always get in touch via email: diamondsitc@hotmail.com
If you have no contact with anyone in our list of recommended professionals, please e-mail us at diamondsitc@hotmail.com stating your situation and we will be in touch to advise you.
If you have any donations you cannot bring to our premises, please e-mail us at diamondsitc@hotmail.com and we will do our best to organise a collection, however this may not always be possible.
We distribute items based on the referral of people “in need” through those who work with them on a professional level. This does not have to be a social worker or Doctor. It can be someone who may lead a group they attend, a librarian or someone from their school or nursery. We go on the trust that they have assessed for us the needs of the family through their relationship with them. This allows us to reach more “hard to reach” families who would not come forward without the support of a trusted person in their lives. If we have any concerns we investigate fully. We want our Donors to know that every effort is being made to ensure their donations are used within the rules of our ethos.
There are certain items we need but cannot accept second hand. This is always because of a health or safety low or recommendation. We reuse and recycle as much as we can, but cannot accept the following items:
- used car seats, even as part of a travel system
- used mattresses
- cot bumpers
- underwear and swimwear
- used dummies, feeding bottles and equipment
- cloth nappies, unless brand new
- cosmetics and toiletries that have been opened/unsealed
We ask that any equipment donated is in a clean and good condition, but some scratches etc on a cot, for example, is not a problem. Safety features can never be compromised. Here is a guide for some common donations.
Cots:
- all pieces must be present and not broken in any way
- all fixtures and fittings to be labelled and attached in a bag or box
- instructions are helpful but we realise they are often not kept
High chairs and buggies:
- all safety straps, recline features and fixtures must be intact and fully working (we will ask for a demonstration)
- they must be clean and mould free
- for buggies, wheels must not have signs of excessive wear
