Elayos is a Birmingham-based charity working alongside mothers and babies through pregnancy, birth and those early months that can feel both joyful and overwhelming.
Their work is rooted in doula support. That means walking alongside women in a practical and human way. Listening, advocating, and being there through pregnancy, labour and after birth.
Many of the women they support are dealing with a lot at once. Isolation. Trauma. Living in temporary accommodation. Navigating a new country. Experiences of domestic abuse or poor mental health.
Often there isn’t much of a support network around them.
So Elayos step in and stay alongside.
They go to appointments. Help people prepare for birth. Check in after the baby arrives. Support with feeding. Help with food, essentials and day-to-day things that can easily become overwhelming.
It’s steady, relational support, alongside making sure families have what they need in a very practical sense.
They’ve recently launched something called Brighter Beginnings.
It’s simple.
Donation boxes placed in workplaces and community spaces across Birmingham. Places where people can drop off baby items they no longer need, or pick up a few extra bits to give.
Nappies. Wipes. Clothes. Blankets. Toys.
Items that might seem small, but for a family with very little, can be the difference between getting through the week or not.
Elayos will collect everything and make sure it goes directly to families who need it.
If you spend any time in this space, you start to see how early pressure builds.
It’s not always one big crisis. It’s things stacking up.
Not having what you need for your baby.
Trying to make things stretch.
Feeling like you’re on your own with it.
When support comes early, it can steady things. It can stop that pressure tipping into something harder.
That’s part of how we start to design out homelessness in practice. Not just responding when things have already broken down, but paying attention to the points where a bit of support changes the path.
This is one of those points.
Elayos are looking for organisations who can host a donation box.
They’ll provide it and collect it when it’s full, so it doesn’t create extra work.
If you’ve got a space, it’s a straightforward way to be part of something local and practical.
If you’d like to get involved or host a drop box, They would love to hear from you.
Please contact emma@elayos.co.uk
For more information on what to donate, visit: Baby Bank — Elayos
Alternatively, to make a financial donation please visit : Donate — Elayos