ON THIS PAGE: Aid Donation Procedure  /  General Points  /  General Aid needed  /  Medical  /  Gift Packs  /  Craft
Knitting & Crocheting plus Booklet   /  Mittens Knitting Patterns  /  Knitting Square Challenge  /  Easter/Harvest  /  Car Share for Delivering Aid to Smile Office

We would like to thank all those who give so generously to provide aid and knitted items for those in need. We greatly appreciate all the time, effort and finance that goes into the gifts. Volunteer collectors and drivers are always needed – please contact us if you can help. AID DONATION PROCEDURE Each time we take a delivery we are required, for audit purposes, to count and log every item that is donated to Smile. With a large consignment, this can be very lengthy procedure. We therefore ask donors to supply an inventory of all items  being donated. (Please note, individual items in shoeboxes, craft packs or school packs do not need to be listed.) Please download, complete and enclose the appropriate form(s) with your aid or shoebox donation: Aid Inventory Form (Doc 250 KB) Shoebox Donor Delivery Form (Doc 151 KB) Due to rising postal costs, we are unable to acknowledge every gift individually. If you require an acknowledgement, please enclose a stamped addressed envelope with your gift. Thank you for helping us to maximise the amount of available funds that we can use directly on our projects to help those in most need. If you have any queries, please contact our Aid Department on aid@smileinternational.org The details below are available in our Aid Guidelines leaflet which is available from the Smile office or may be downloaded from here. Please also see our Shoeboxes page. GENERAL POINTS Aid is distributed according to need regardless of nationality, political background or religious belief. We do not add literature to our packed boxes due to the sensitive nature of the countries in which we work. ALL ITEMS SHOULD BE NEW AND UNUSED WE ARE UNABLE TO TAKE ANY SECOND-HAND CLOTHES OR USED ITEMS		Sorting shoeboxes Sewing machines will provide income for families
		Aid Guidelines Dec09 A5 Portrait PDF (264 KB )	Aid Guidelines Dec09 A4 Landscape PDF (265 KB)
		Aid Craft Knitting ZIP (5 MB) containing all aid-related PDFs

We regret we are unable to take the following:

Toy guns/knives Military and monster characters Battery operated items Makeup Books Food items

Items in glass bottles, mirrors and other breakables Curtains, cushions, nets Baby buggies/pushchairs Medicines or drugs of any kind – no prescription drugs Handmade toys without the CE mark

GENERAL AID NEEDED

TOILETRIES e.g. Soap (bars and liquid), flannels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, deodorants, shaving foam, razors, combs, brushes, feminine hygiene products, baby products, nappies and baby wipes TOYS All toys, whether bought or handmade, must bear the CE mark in line with current European Union regulations. SUPPLIES FOR SCHOOLS e.g. Pens, paper, notebooks, crayons, paints, pencils (black lead and coloured), pencil cases, sharpeners, rubbers, chalks, rulers, geometry sets, self-charging calculators, educational games, musical instruments, computers (Pentium 3 upwards) FACTORY SECONDS/END OF LINE Clothing, footwear and other supplies

Children in Sri Lanka with their Smile school rucksacks filled with school supplies

MEDICAL

All medical items must be at least 12 MONTHS in date.

We also take supplies and equipment for hospitals – please contact us to confirm suitability of items.

CRAFT PACKS

Coloured paper Coloured pencils Felt pens and crayons Paints, brushes Face paints Tissue paper & stickers Glitter & sequins Coloured feathers Glues/glue sticks Sharpeners Child safety scissors

Download Crafts Flyer A5 portrait PDF (512 KB)

Download Crafts Flyer A4 landscape PDF  (512 KB)

   
Smile teams helping with craft activities in Uganda, Sri Lanka and Kosova

KNITTING/CROCHET

We need knitted or crocheted garments, e.g. jumpers, hats, gloves, socks, scarves, baby clothes/shawls and blankets. Or, if you cannot knit, perhaps you can collect wool for us to give to our knitters. We would welcome details of your Knitting Group – where you meet and how many knitters you have. Please avoid the Child/Baby T-Jumper pattern, and the slashed-neck tee shirt style. Knitted teddies and toys: please note that, in line with current European Union regulations, we can no longer accept home-made stuffed knitted teddies/toys unless they bear the CE label. However, you may wish to adapt a mitten/glove pattern by adding a teddy face and ears so that the child can play games with the mitten characters. There should be no stuffed parts to the mitten (e.g. arms, legs), as this would bring it into the category of toy, and the features should be firmly embroidered rather than using toy eyes, buttons or beads. Such mittens do not necessarily need to be donated to us in pairs. If you have such a pattern of your own design that you would like to share with Smile for others to use, we would love to hear from you. Please do not use ribbons on baby clothes, due to choking hazard. Rita Gulliver of Woodley Woollies has kindly given us permission to offer her Knitting Booklet for charity use. The booklet is written for charity knitters and contains patterns for babies, children, and blankets/rug. Janice Smith has also kindly allowed us to make available her pattern for Aran and DK mittens. You may download these from our website for your personal, charity and fundraising knitting use only. The booklet and knitting patterns remain the copyright of the authors.		Download Woodley Woollies Knitting Book A5 Portrait PDF 430 KB) (This can be printed onto A4, thus producing larger print)
		Download Woodley Woollies Knitting Book A4 Landscape PDF (438 KB)
		Download Aran & DK Mittens Pattern A4 PDF (50 KB)

      
Ligny of Fleet Baptist Church, Hampshire, with the hats she has knitted – Clive in Romania – Val in Montenegro – Pastors receiving aid, Kosova

KNITTING SQUARE CHALLENGE!

This is a great idea from Smile supporter Jean Whitworth:

"Back in the summer we received Smile's newsletter and were very touched by the article by Jess (Smile gapper) when she wrote of the need for blankets in the Roma camp in Kosova. Twelve of us from Church spent time out in Kosova with Smile last year and were taken to the Roma camp. We saw how the people were living in the heat of the summer and realised how it would be even more difficult in the winter months.

I challenged the Church family to see how many squares we could knit during the summer holidays and we held a competition "Where did you knit your square?" and asked people to take a photo of themselves knitting. We gave prizes for the farthest away, most unusual etc. The whole initiative just took off! We publish a community newsletter which we deliver to about 1,000 houses around the Church and we asked for help in that and regularly – almost daily – knitted squares are pushed through the Church letterbox.

We asked Smile if we could send the blankets via the shoebox collection so the end of November was our deadline and we thought that that might be the end of the campaign but people want to carry on. We have two large toybox-type containers in the Church vestibule – 1 for wool and 1 for completed squares. On Thursday when I went into Church the Squares container was full again (since Sunday!), there must have been 100 squares in it. The initiative just seems to be a focus for the community. People can knit a square easily whilst watching TV and some of our younger folk have learned to knit through the campaign – even the Scouts! We have challenged the Guides to knit enough squares to make a blanket of their own.

I am just totally amazed by the way this knitting has taken off and of course it is good publicity for Smile as we talk about where the blankets are going. I'll keep you posted as to how the whole thing progresses.

God Bless"

Jean Whitworth
Fellside Methodist Church, Whickham, Newcastle upon Tyne

If your church, school or organisation would like to take up a collection for the work of Smile International, it would be much appreciated. Alternatively, you may wish to donate school, craft or music packs or any of the aid items listed above.

CAR SHARE FOR DELIVERING AID TO THE SMILE OFFICE IN KENT

Smile supporters! – If you are coming to the Smile office in Orpington, Kent, and have some spare room in your car, you might like to consider helping us with our aid delivery. If you can help in this way, or if you are donating aid to Smile, you should contact your Regional Coordinator who can make the appropriate arrangements for the aid to be collected. You will be helping Smile, saving petrol and conserving environment!

Volunteer collectors and drivers always needed – contact us if you can help

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has given aid, finance, skills, time and prayers to help us fill our trucks of humanitarian aid, and provide relief and hope for the poor

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward him for what he has done." (Proverbs 19:17 )