Premmie Brigade
Donation protected
Premmie Brigade is a Melbourne based group of volunteers who, together with our members, aim to provide a free support service for parents and families of premature babies. We are a not-for-profit cause run solely by volunteers, donations and ex-premmie parents who are willing to lend a hand. Within our private group there is a wealth of knowledge and always someone available to chat and help provide support to any other parent or family member who may need it.
The group is co-ordinated by a team of admins, Colleen Jackson, Melissa Brownfield, Heidi Trew, Julie Hemus, Lyn West, Jaz Lyons, Mickey Jenkins and Lisa O'Leary all from Melbourne. We have all worked tirelessly for Premmie Brigade for many years now and love what we do.
The group had its beginnings in 2012 when a close friend of our founding Admin gave birth much earlier than expected, at 31 weeks gestation, finding it extremely difficult to find clothing for her tiny babe, especially being confined to the hospital, a family at home and very little time to do anything else.
Premmie Brigade now supports families by providing our ‘Premmie Care Packs’ totally free of charge. We currently have over 1100 members Victoria wide, with around 50 dedicated and passionate volunteers working hard to meet the needs of our community.
Our wonderful gift packs contain tiny hand-knitted items including hats, blankets, booties and cardigans. Also included is clothing that is purchased new such as singlets, bodysuits and jumpsuits in sizes 00000 & 000000. Sometimes we are lucky enough to have these items donated when we struggle to keep up with demand. Other personal items contained are breastpads and breastmilk storage bags, hand sanitizer, creams & lotions, samples and the most wonderful item we make ourselves, our Scent Blankets. These beautifully crafted tiny blankets are used by mum to absorb her scent and left in the arms of babies in isolettes for comfort.
We have started this gofundme campaign as a way to raise the funds needed to continue to provide these care packs to parents. The money raised is used to purchase wool and fabrics for our sewers and knitters, jumpsuits and singlets, baby lotions and the beautiful bags and tags that have become our signature packaging.
Premmie Brigade has a public FB page where we can be contacted when there is a request for a care pack. We ask for the mother and baby's details and the pack is hand delivered wherever possible by one of our stockists. On this page you can also see the donations we receive, the purchases we make and the packs that we supply. From 2013 - 2015, we have provided over 350 care packs to Victorian families!
https://www.facebook.com/premmiebrigadepage?ref=bookmarks
Our talented volunteer sewers and knitters rely solely on donations of fabric and wool to keep stocking our packs so please give generously so that we can keep supporting Victorian families of these miracle babes.
~In Australia, there are over 45,000 babies admitted into Neo Natal Intensive Care and Special Care units each year. That translates to over 115 admissions per day.~
The group is co-ordinated by a team of admins, Colleen Jackson, Melissa Brownfield, Heidi Trew, Julie Hemus, Lyn West, Jaz Lyons, Mickey Jenkins and Lisa O'Leary all from Melbourne. We have all worked tirelessly for Premmie Brigade for many years now and love what we do.
The group had its beginnings in 2012 when a close friend of our founding Admin gave birth much earlier than expected, at 31 weeks gestation, finding it extremely difficult to find clothing for her tiny babe, especially being confined to the hospital, a family at home and very little time to do anything else.
Premmie Brigade now supports families by providing our ‘Premmie Care Packs’ totally free of charge. We currently have over 1100 members Victoria wide, with around 50 dedicated and passionate volunteers working hard to meet the needs of our community.
Our wonderful gift packs contain tiny hand-knitted items including hats, blankets, booties and cardigans. Also included is clothing that is purchased new such as singlets, bodysuits and jumpsuits in sizes 00000 & 000000. Sometimes we are lucky enough to have these items donated when we struggle to keep up with demand. Other personal items contained are breastpads and breastmilk storage bags, hand sanitizer, creams & lotions, samples and the most wonderful item we make ourselves, our Scent Blankets. These beautifully crafted tiny blankets are used by mum to absorb her scent and left in the arms of babies in isolettes for comfort.
We have started this gofundme campaign as a way to raise the funds needed to continue to provide these care packs to parents. The money raised is used to purchase wool and fabrics for our sewers and knitters, jumpsuits and singlets, baby lotions and the beautiful bags and tags that have become our signature packaging.
Premmie Brigade has a public FB page where we can be contacted when there is a request for a care pack. We ask for the mother and baby's details and the pack is hand delivered wherever possible by one of our stockists. On this page you can also see the donations we receive, the purchases we make and the packs that we supply. From 2013 - 2015, we have provided over 350 care packs to Victorian families!
https://www.facebook.com/premmiebrigadepage?ref=bookmarks
Our talented volunteer sewers and knitters rely solely on donations of fabric and wool to keep stocking our packs so please give generously so that we can keep supporting Victorian families of these miracle babes.
~In Australia, there are over 45,000 babies admitted into Neo Natal Intensive Care and Special Care units each year. That translates to over 115 admissions per day.~
Organizer
Melissa Jayne Brownfield
Organizer
Omaio, NZ
