Home-Start UK is delighted to team up with Waitrose & Partners to bring you a beautiful reusable shopping bag.

The shopper will be on sale in all Waitrose stores for £6, with 10% of profits going to Home-Start UK to support the charity’s work with families who are experiencing tough times. 

Home-Start services have never been more needed and the bag will help raise awareness of Home-Start's vital work supporting children and their parents and will encourage more volunteers to come forward, enabling Home-Starts to reach more families. 

The design incorporates homes and hearts, representing the way our work starts in the home, and the positive impact the charity makes. The bag was created by designer Vicky McFarlane.

Talking about her inspiration for designing the bag Vicky said “The design was inspired by the way I see Home-Start. I imagine the staff and the volunteers as this line that connects homes across the UK, filling them with love. I wanted all the houses to be slightly different sizes and shapes to show that life is imperfect.

“When I design for Home-Start, I always think about how I felt when I heard a talk by a young woman that the charity had supported when she was a child. Her mum had died and a Home-Start volunteer came to support the family. The little girl called her volunteer Grandma Paula and when she spoke about the impact she had on the family, it moved me to tears. So I try to put that feeling of love, connection and not being alone into the design work that I do.

It’s amazing to think that as a result of this design, more little children will be able to have that kind of support.”

Mel Barry, Fundraising Communications Manager for Home-Start UK, who worked with Waitrose on the project said “It’s incredibly exciting to see Home-Start charity bags being sold in Waitrose stores. This is such a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness of Home-Start and we are so incredibly grateful to our partners Waitrose for making this happen. The design of the bag relates so well to our work taking place in the homes of families across the UK. The only thing that's more exciting than seeing the bags in Waitrose stores, will be seeing them on the arms of people on the street.”

In May, Home-Start joined the John Lewis Partnership’s #BuildingHappierFutures programme and is working alongside John Lewis, Waitrose, Action for Children, and Who Cares? Scotland, to create a happier future for children and young people.

Through our involvement in the Building Happier Futures programme, Home-Start will be supporting children from their earliest years, strengthening family relationships and helping parents to build safe, loving and supportive relationships with their children.

To get your hands on one of these fabulous bags and support Home-Start, visit your nearest Waitrose store from 24th July.

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