Frequently asked questions

Loved & Shared is a nonprofit organisation and registered ACNC charity established to support families experiencing hardship through the distribution of donated nursery and children’s goods across South West Victoria. Local data tells us over 4,500* children in South West Victoria live in poverty, while over 25 tonne** of high-quality children’s goods are sent to landfill each year in our region. Our aim is to improve access to the essential resources children need to grow and thrive, while reducing the amount of goods sent to landfill. We exist to strengthen our community by ensuring all children in South West Victoria have an equal opportunity to thrive. Learn more about us.

*idcommunity (profile.id.com.au) and Remplan Community Profile (remplan.com.au)

**Cleanaway: Sustainable Waste Management Solutions, South West Vic, 2021-22

Our warehouse and office are based in Warrnambool. We intend to extend our service reach across the entire South West Vic region. We’d love to introduce you to our work and we welcome you to visit our warehouse for a tour, make a booking.

Loved & Shared is built on the premise ‘it takes a village to raise a child’.  Our work is made possible by high-quality donations of nursery and children’s goods from our caring community; the contribution of our passionate and dedicated team of volunteers who sort, clean, bundle and beautifully package donated goods at our warehouse; partnerships with support agencies, social welfare organisations, and maternal and child health services to distribute our gifted goods to families in our region; and the generosity of individuals, businesses, community, and philanthropic financial donations and in-kind goods and services to keep our operations sustained. Learn more about how you can become a supporter

We warmly welcome you to get involved and be part of the Loved & Shared village! There are many ways you can get involved, listed below are some examples

• Donate new and preloved nursery and children’s goods
• Express your interest in volunteering
• Register your organisation to distribute gifts
• Support us
• Fundraise for us (coming soon)
• Partner with us (coming soon)
• Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

We offer a variety of volunteer opportunities that seek diverse skills and experience. Our current opportunities are listed on our website, learn more about our volunteer roles. We welcome any contribution you can make, whether it’s a regular weekly commitment or pop-in when you have an hour or two to spare. We welcome individuals, groups, corporate volunteering and school volunteering. We welcome volunteers from ages 12+, all volunteers under 16 must be accompanied and supervised by a parent or guardian at all times. Express your interest in volunteering.

We are so grateful to receive donations of nursery and children’s goods from our generous and caring community. Please ensure your donations are in excellent, clean, safe, and working condition. We only accept a limited selection of goods, to find out what we can rehome please read our Goods Donation Guide before donating your items.

Can I pop down anytime to donate my goods? We kindly ask you to book a drop-off session. A drop off session allows our team to spend 10-15 minutes quality and safety checking your items to ensure we can rehome them.

Can I leave my donations at your door? We kindly ask you to book a drop-off session anytime you have goods to donate. We aim for zero waste at Loved & Shared, it is important that we are onsite to check your items before accepting them to ensure we can rehome them.

What safety checks do you undertake? We comply with Australian Safety Standards and we check for safety features based on these standards. If you’re unsure if your goods meet safety standards, please email us a photo and product information before booking a drop-off session.

What quality checks do you undertake? We check the cleanliness and hygiene of your goods, we make sure goods are in working condition with all pieces attached, we check dates on baby toiletries, we make sure clothing is freshly laundered, we ensure there are no signs of wear and damage.

What if my goods don’t meet Loved & Shared’s safety or quality standards? We are so grateful for the support of goods donators, however if your goods don’t meet our safety or quality standards, we reserve the right to decline your donation.

Why don’t you accept a broader range of donated items? We accept a limited selection of donated items because we are here to provide essential resources to families experiencing hardship, and to fill a niche need rather than duplicate the work of other charities and services in our region. We have developed our stock list in consultation with service providers who’ve informed us about the most needed items their clients require. We are passionate about contributing to a circular economy and we integrate sustainability into our operations to minimise our environmental impact, so we aim to gift and rehome goods that can continue to be repurposed and reshared.

Financial donations are vital to ensure that Loved & Shared can continue to operate and support families in our region. Your financial donation will support our work and contribute to the costs of our operations, giving the gift of dignity to families living in our region by helping to alleviate the financial pressures of raising a child, assisting families to become active and engaged in their community, and supporting the physical and emotional needs of children.

If you’re in immediate danger, call 000.

We work directly with social welfare agencies, maternal and child health services, and community organisations to distribute our gifted goods. We don’t distribute gifts directly to families and carers in need of our support. To receive our support, contact your service provider to request items from Loved & Shared on your behalf. Your support worker can register their organisation to distribute gifts.

If you aren’t currently connected to any support services, contact your local council to see what support is available in your community. We’ve listed some helpful links here.

On an average day, among various other things, we are busily sorting donations, beautifully packing gifts, engaging with our community and volunteers. We prefer if you send us an enquiry on our website, and we’ll get back to you either via email or phone call.