If I made a venn diagram of my favourite childrenswear brands (I do love a venn diagram. They are just so….pleasing, visually,) then one circle would have ‘beautiful design’, one would have ‘ethically produced’ (minimal environmental impact, made by workers in a safe environment and who are paid a reasonable wage.) The middle section of this theoretical venn diagram – it won’t be theoretical for long, I feel a Sunday night craft activity coming on , a nice bit of cut and stick and circle drawing – would be the few that combine the two aspects. From Babies with Love is one of the few that would sit in that hallowed middle bit. from babies with love is a childrens’ clothing boutique like no other. They sell beautifully designed baby and childrenswear, in organic cotton, and all profits go to help orphaned and abandoned children around the world. This is no money-making capitalist venture – this is social enterprise in action, uncompromising on quality and design.
Green bonnets! Spotty or stripy!
Bird print babygro: Raspberry
Shark-print babygro
Summer Berry dress set
These are just a few of the beautiful things you can buy – with 100% of profits from the sale going to support children who have nothing.
Thanks to your custom we’re now supporting the 114 children that live in the SOS Children’s Village in Lilongwe, Malawi! We’re supporting the village, and in particular the nursery school, which cares for babies and toddlers in the village as well as the surrounding community.
From babies with love sponsors SOS children: a charity providing homes and foster families for children who have been orphaned or abandoned. One of the SOS Childrens’ Villages that they support is in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, which has 12 family houses that care for 114 children. There is a nursery, a primary and secondary school, a medical centre and a vocational training centre.
Malawi nursery, Feb 2013
Crucial to the success of these Childrens’ Villages are the SOS mothers: foster mothers who care for the children in the villages when biological parents are no longer able to. They are vital to the development and wellbeing of the children that SOS supports: “SOS mothers are the dedicated women who work day-to-day for the benefit of their SOS children. They live with their children, care for their children, comfort their children and celebrate with their children. They do all the normal things a mother would do. Many former SOS children keep in touch with their SOS mother well beyond their time in the SOS Children’s Village, showing that the same strong bond exists as between a natural mother and a child. Worldwide there are more than 5,250 SOS mothers who care for 62,000 children in 545 SOS Children’s Villages.”
SOS mothers (photo: sos.childre.org)
I love the idea that you can buy beautiful childrenswear and donate money to such a great cause at the same time. I have lined this website up as my first port of call when the next person I know has a baby. What a lovely gift for a new baby! (Alas, my own children are far too huge for this stuff.) If you too have a penchant for beautifully designed childrenswear and would like to give a little to children in need at the same time, I would advise you to add this to your own personal venn diagram of style/ethical shopping. I am, obviously, assuming that you also have a penchant for venn diagrams. OK?
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