It’s now the 16th of October, 2025
Reuse Littleborough was first launched on the 16th October 2015 ,
So yes 10 years 
The sole aim of our charity was to support abandoned babies in Mwanza Tanzania,
So many mothers that die in childbirth ( 10% ) leaving behind a baby that is set aside to die, family and neighbours do not have the funds to bring up a baby, formula milk is a weeks wages and with other siblings to feed it’s not an option,
Cold Tea and crushed rice doesn’t work , 
A baby left in hospital has no chance no bottle , no food it doesn’t get fed, yes it’s harsh and it’s still not right ,
Amy Hathaway ( MBE ) had already set up a baby rescue home ( Forever angels ) so we filled a 40 foot container to send to the kids,
So what do you put on your list to send ???
With guidance and some thought we formed a plan ,
Knitting groups ( knit and natter, ) ( stitch and bitch) ( knitted by nanas ) produced cardies, blankets and hats,
A donation of hotel sheets from the Mercure hotel in Manchester was amazing, we formed a sewing group producing fitted cot sheets ( 60 cots) . ( we made 500 )
Donations of toys, outdoor play equipment , 20 little tykes cars, a mountain of potties, towels, dental stuff from local dentists ( donated by manufacturers)
2000 Washable nappies from a company in Bolton that were classed as rejects, ( the blue was not blue enough )
20 bicycles for local families struggling,
1000 baby bottles we bought from Amazon ,
Sterilisation tablets, paper , pens , crayons, colouring books, bubbles, water balloons , a large trampoline,
DVDs ,children’s music CDs, players , TVs,
We sent VHS , but they were not impressed. Even they had moved on , 
We got a donation of 30 wheelie bins from RMBC,
And 20 from Bolton council,
They are 2 foot wide and fitted in our 8 foot wide container quite nicely and are still being used today,
We started operating from what I thought was Gig House in the park but it was just a cupboard with no lights . Not good at this time of year, but RBH came to the rescue with a shop in Smallbridge, we were off
350 Facebook members on our group so was really chuffed, the donations flooded in,
Run by myself and Katie, Elaine and my daughters, ( Gill and Tracie ) it was just part time but we managed,
The container left in early February and I went over to receive it, it was an amazing day, all the staff unloaded it and it was all neatly put into storage,
We have now sent 3 containers but don’t plan to send anymore because of the red tape by the Tanzanian government, shame we could send so many,
On my return from Africa in June 2018 we took on the abandoned Royal Oak Pub, it was ideal being in the centre of our community, opened by the then Mayor CLR Zaman ,
We had so many plans to make a difference to our community and help many local families , children and babies, it’s working well,
Once we found a local retired senior manager from Dunhelm
With so much retail experience that became a massive asset to our future,
Thank you Gordon , your commitment and ideas are invaluable and we wouldn’t be in this position without you,
Katie is a massive asset as she deals with all the admin and paperwork whilst childminding a herd of pan lids and ankle biters,
Now with nearly 12,000 members things have moved on so much, yes we have created a monster
But it’s a good monster,
It’s our monster,
Having now got charitable status we can do so much ,
We have created a Resource centre run by Leo who does a wonderful job, this supports needy families that have now got a property with nothing to furnish it with,
We have sourced a large van to collect furniture donations staffed by a team of drivers ( well done lads)
Working our way through local businesses to get donations of anything we can pass on,
Comfy Quilts are a great supporter and donate lots of new bedding to go on the beds we give away to get kids up off the floor, 
Our Baby Bank supports new mums as identified by midwives at the maternity unit with mothers leaving hospital with little or nothing.
A loaded Moses basket kicks it off full of everything needed for mother and baby. Then a pram. a cot , a toddler bed, steriliser and much more,
Our baby shop on Hare Hill Road is very popular and doing amazing, run by a team of fantastic staff,
The only one for miles around and people travel to it ,
Then we have our main Hub on Church street , the donations arriving daily blows me away,
We help local groups with no funding,
We have taken on LittlePinkBorough with the help of John Shaw , ( Rochdales’ man of the year and one of our trustees )
The Hub needs lots of staff , it’s difficult but we manage to scrape by,
ALL OUR STAFF , are volunteers,
They work so hard 
WE PAY NO WAGES,
So many of our senior volunteers are working hard to keep it all running, but it’s not sustainable
Most are in their 70s heading for 80 , yes me as well
I worry about the future ,
It would be criminal if it all came crashing down 
Am I waffling on ?
Yes, it’s what I do best
Anyway ,
Onwards and upwards,
And hopefully another 10 years ,
But it won’t be me
Trustees,
Michael Bamford, Katie Lloyd, Gordon Gwynne & John Shaw.
