Help me give my stroller away!

August 6, 2013 12:42 AM

We've had to switch to a double stroller (buggy/ pushchair), for obvious reasons, but still have our single stroller - a fairly sought-after model, particularly useful for public transport - in very good condition. It's had heavy use, but it isn't destroyed by any means (details inside). Please help me find a useful way to donate our stroller to an organisation that needs strollers in the London (UK) area.

The general "done thing" here seems to be to sell the used stroller via the NCT's Nearly New Sales. Mr Wylla and I are not NCT supporters, and we'd much rather give the stroller to an organisation that needs it than attempt to sell it in a way that mostly benefits an organisation we aren't keen on. I've heard that domestic violence refuge organisations and orgs that help single mothers with housing and other basic needs might need strollers and other baby equipment to pass on to clients, but Google just turns up endless links to the NCT. Help?

More on the stroller condition, if that helps: it only needs a replacement rain cover and handle wrapping to be 100% as a stroller, though it's totally usable without them. If someone wanted the bassinet attachment, it would need to be replaced. For this model, people generally use a car seat attachment instead of the bassinet. We can include the car seat clips in the donation.

One further note: before hearing other possibilities mentioned, we looked at giving it to a charity shop outside the NCT, so that it could be sold to benefit Cancer Research or Oxfam (or similar). It seems that, in most cases, only a Bugaboo (the most expensive possible stroller) justifies the floorspace it takes to display a donated stroller - ours is not a Bugaboo.

posted by Wylla to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

There are FARA charity shops that only sell children's items - I'm familiar with the ones in Ealing and Teddington and they often have all sorts of prams/ strollers. As long as they are in good condition they'll take them.
posted by goo at 1:00 AM on August 6, 2013

As goo says: I'd consider giving it to FARA. They have shops across London, but more to the point have specialist 'kids' shops in Fulham, Battersea, Notting Hill, Richmond, Barnes, Teddington, Chiswick, Balham and Southfields so would be able to sell on a stroller in decent condition.
posted by MuffinMan at 1:02 AM on August 6, 2013

Another thought - a non-chain charity shop? There is also an organisation near me that provides children's items to people in need, but they are a pregnancy and post-abortion counselling service with a pretty explicit pro-life agenda so I'm not comfortable linking them. Memail me if you want the details regardless.
posted by goo at 1:17 AM on August 6, 2013

Response by poster: FARA (at least the closest one to me) seems to vary what they'll take, stroller-wise, based on space. I am keeping track of the local FARA as a possibility, and will swoop in next time their window clears of strollers if I still have this one.

goo - good point, and one I should have clarified. We wouldn't be comfortable supporting an anti-choice group in any way.

Off to stop threadsitting now!
posted by Wylla at 1:21 AM on August 6, 2013

You could always bypass the shop element and talk to someone at your local surestart/children's centre. They would probably know of a family that would put it to very good use?
posted by Morsey at 1:38 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

One note to consider (which you may already be aware of). The word "stroller" is not in my experience common in the UK. Pushchair, buggy or pram would be the more frequently used terms. Just wondered if this could make a difference when searching online.
posted by Captain Najork at 2:44 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

A thought: actually, you might want to keep it. There'll be times when you're only taking one kid somewhere, as well as the future when the kids are bigger and one'll be walking while the other still rides.
posted by easily confused at 2:55 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: For another option, SVP is a great charity that works with disadvantaged communities. Although they have a Christian ethos it's of the 'help the poor' kind, rather than the preaching kind. I have referred a lot of clients to them for support over the years and I've never had any issues with them. They have community shops and I rang their shop on the Kingsland Road just to check. They said they are happy to accept donations of buggies, no mention of floor space or model of pushchair, just drop by.
posted by billiebee at 3:41 AM on August 6, 2013

Best answer: I often donate used but good children's items to my local women's shelter. There are some amazing people there that will often let you specify if you want your item to go to someone of great need or to be used as a sort of library (though this is most easily done for toys, clothes and books).

Your council will be able to help - and if they're anything like mine, will be delighted to help. :)
posted by katiecat at 6:18 AM on August 6, 2013

Best answer: Women's shelter, for sure.

Or, my grandparents' church has a lending library of baby items -- high chairs, pack 'n' plays, strollers, bins of toys and books -- that grandparents can borrow when their grandkids come to visit, so they can provide hard-to-travel-with baby necessities for visiting grandkids without having to store them all the time at their own homes. I thought this was pretty much the best idea ever, and it was one of the most popular programs the church had. Maybe there's a religious organization or senior living community near you with a similar program, or maybe if you belong to a religious organization you can convince them to start a lending library of baby stuff. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:34 AM on August 6, 2013

Response by poster: THE COUNCIL!!! Katiecat, thanks so much...I am embarrassed to say that that hadn't even occurred to me as a source of advice as to who might need it. Eyebrows McGee, I will also check in with a few active church folks I know to see if they have any pointers, either to a shelter or to a baby-stuff lending service in the area. Awesome. Billiebee - thanks for the backup sales option and especially for making the phonecall!

Captain Najork - Yeah, "stroller" is an Americanism, but one most people understand (particularly since US-Style "umbrella strollers" - which I've never heard called anything else - have become so popular). That's a good thing, since every time I say (or google) "buggy" I think of teeny-tiny toddler Amish and teeny-tiny ponies.

Thanks!
posted by Wylla at 7:29 AM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

US-Style "umbrella strollers"

Owen Maclaren invented the umbrella stroller, he was British and so is the Maclaren company he founded.
posted by w0mbat at 12:45 PM on August 6, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ah! I had no idea! The "umbrella strollers" everyone seems to use that term for aren't the super-sturdy McLarens that actually fold like umbrellas, though - they're the flimsy ones with just a sling seat for older kids that fold down to about the size of a folded umbrella. Those seem to almost always be called "strollers". No idea why: I assumed it was because they originated in the US. Thanks!
posted by Wylla at 2:20 AM on August 7, 2013