All your questions answered
Check the FAQs to see if your question has been answered here. If not, simply email us!
About Us
We are a not-for-profit organisation that provides material aid to vulnerable families and children in our local community. We do this by working with our team of volunteers and people like yourself to make sure that pre-loved items find a worthy home.
Our main warehouse address is 12/337 Settlement Rd, Thomastown.
Our Western Metropolitan Melbourne warehouse (AKA The Sustainable Collective by Big Group Hug) is located at 4/29 Hawker St, Airport West.
Bookings are recommended to drop off your items at either one of our warehouses and can be made by clicking this link.
To view our open hours, or to contact us, visit our Contact Us page.
By volunteering or donating! Check the following FAQs for more info.
Volunteering
Becoming a volunteer is very simple! You will just need to:
- Fill out the form on our volunteer page
- Attend a short induction in person or online.
We offer a large range of volunteer opportunities across Big Group Hug. From one-off volunteer roles to ongoing, continuous positions… we have something for everyone. Below are just a few examples of ways in which you can help us out:
- Sorting and packing – get much-needed donations ready to send out to families in need.
- Drive – deliver donations to community services across Melbourne to support vulnerable children and families.
- Repairs and Maintenance – fix and safety check prams, cots, highchairs, car restraints, etc.
- Special events/short term projects – help make a Big Group Hug event a raging success.
- Get in touch and apply to volunteer here. Together we can help support vulnerable children across Victoria!
Yes, you can. We have volunteer sessions in the evenings and at the weekends, plus we offer activities you can do from the comfort of your home.
If you are aged between 15 to 17 years, you can volunteer with us by providing a parent consent form.
We value the support from our corporate partners and could not continue to grow without them. Financial contributions, workplace fundraising, pro-bono work, and many more options are possible, and we would love to chat through them with you. Please email corporate@biggrouphug.org to discuss the opportunities.
Corporate, or workplace volunteers contribute significantly to Big Group Hug’s work and are a vital part of our volunteer program. To get involved please email corporate@biggrouphug.org
Yes, absolutely! We would love to welcome your workgroup and are grateful for the support from companies and organisations. For more information, please email corporate@biggrouphug.org
By volunteering, you will help provide vulnerable children with the items they need to help break the cycle of disadvantage. As a volunteer-based organisation, our time and effort are key to ending childhood poverty.
Please send us an email at volunteer@biggrouphug.org and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Donating
Check our list of accepted items here.
Also, to stay up to date with the latest info regarding much-needed items and donation drives, we encourage you to follow our social pages.
- Instagram: @BigGroupHug
- Facebook: Big Group Hug
- LinkedIn: /company/BigGroupHug
- TikTok: @BigGroupHug_
Once you’ve checked the list and meet all requirements, feel free to book a drop-off time slot.
For more information, please get in touch by emailing donategoods@biggrouphug.org and we’ll let you know if we are the right place for you to make your donation.
To ensure our organisation continues to run and reach more families, we desperately need the financial backing of our generous donors and fundraisers.
We can accept formula for babies up to 12 months old, Stages 1 and 2. Tins must be in date and unopened.
We kindly ask you to please book a timeslot to drop off your donations.
If you can’t make our warehouse timings, we may have a local drop-off point that could be more suitable. Email us at donategoods@biggrouphug.org to find out more and keep an eye on our social pages as we will be releasing more times slots each week.
We have donation days on the first Saturday of every month! Keep an eye on our social pages as you will be required to book a timeslot.
Yes, we do offer a donation pick-up service at a cost. To make a booking request for a paid donation pick up, please click on this link https://form.jotform.com/220175775214858
Kindly note this will cost $50 and pick-ups are only available within 30km of Bundoora and Airport West locations. We only pick up large items such as Bassinets, Car Seats, Cots, Highchairs, Prams, Baby Baths, and Bouncers.
Yes! Our postal address is PO Box 2009, Bundoora VIC, 3083.
We would love it if you could make sure that all items donated are clean and in good working condition. We ask that clothes are also washed, sized, and labelled. This helps us sort through our donations quickly, ensuring they get into the hands of children and families in need faster.
Your donations go to struggling families including refugees, domestic abuse survivors and others facing hardships within your neighbourhood.
Absolutely! Couriers come to us from companies with their excess stock, you’ll see shout-outs to them via our social media sites. Contact us at info@biggrouphug.org and if suitable, we will graciously take the excess stock off your hands.
We love people fundraising for us and seeing what fun activities they come up with. Visit our Fundraise page for inspiration, including access to our fundraiser toolkit and the link to register your fundraiser.
Using our Services
If you’re in immediate danger, call 000.
We work directly with welfare agencies, Maternal Child Health Nurses, local councils, education providers and community organisations to help support as many families as possible.
To receive support, your support worker, Maternal Child Health Nurse, social worker, case worker, childcare or school educator can request items from us on your behalf. If your support worker is not familiar with our work, direct them to this page.
If you don’t currently have a support worker, contact your local council to see what supports are available in your community, they may have a Community Services Team that you can speak with.
We also often receive requests from churches, GPs or other organisations.
These links may also be useful for you:
- Government Support: Service Australia
- Centrelink Support: Centrelink Services Australia
Agencies and Community Welfare Workers can immediately start using our services and requesting items for their clients by completing a Request Form.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please email requests@biggrouphug.org.
