Gift that keeps on giving for Olivia's 5th birthday

Olivia recently celebrated her 5th birthday by asking friends and family to donate pyjamas, pillows and slippers to less fortunate children. Some of the gifts have already found a new home.

Olivia's mother Nikki told us what inspired their generosity;

Last year, my young daughters Olivia and Pippa were helping me clear out some toys and clothes before we moved house. While doing this, I was explaining that we were going to donate them to a charity shop for some less fortunate children. At the time, I remember thinking that I wished there was a place that I could bring the girls to try and teach them where they might go. They just don't get the concept of a charity shop, and what the end goal of the charity shop is.  

Pippa had a birthday party in October, and I was amazed by the amount of presents that she received. No matter how much you say to people that you don't want a present, that you just want their child to attend the party, they will always buy something (I would do the same). So many presents were given and the girls didn't know what presents came from whom. They were so overwhelmed by the amount of stuff, that nothing was looked at properly. Everything was looked at for 5 minutes and put to the side. Keeping this in mind, I was trying to come up with a way of getting children to the party without presents, or try and take the big expense of the presents away from the parents. We were thinking of asking people to donate to a charity on Olivia's behalf, which then got me thinking about trying to donate something that Olivia can physically see going somewhere. We got chatting with Olivia and ultimately came up with the idea of giving something to the less fortunate children. We thought that PJs was a win-win. 

Olivia is such a thoughtful little girl and it shows her that some other children who may not be as lucky as her are benefiting from her kindness. The less fortunate children get nice new pyjamas, it teaches her younger sister to be as kind, takes pressure off parents to buy and look for gifts, and we don't get a silly amount of toys and presents that are just not needed or appreciated.

Olivia has been overwhelmed by the amount of people that have been telling her about how good she is and how kind it is what she did for her birthday. The response from Barnardos has been so generous too. I initially thought that we would donate directly to the shop in Dun Laoghaire but by going into the head office and chatting with Barnardos staff, it has really sparked conversation with Olivia and Pippa and they have been telling their teachers in preschool, our friends, families etc. It has been great - so THANK YOU! Pippa is SO excited to do the same for her birthday now.