At Madlug, we operate under a ‘buy one, give one, wear one’ model, which means that with every Madlug bag you purchase, we give a pack-away travel bag to a child in care.

One of the questions we often get asked is what the process is for donating bags to children and young people in care once you have purchased a Madlug bag. To shed light on this process, we're sharing insights in this blog post, detailing what happens from customer purchase to a pack-away travel bag landing in the hands of a child or young person moving through the care system. Read on to find out more.

Each month, we set aside all allocated funds which are then transferred quarterly into the Madlug Foundation, the charity foundation of Madlug where we do our giving from.

We then place an order for pack-away travel (or giving) bags – usually a minimum of 6,000 at a time. From placing the order to shipment landing in Northern Ireland usually takes around four months.

The giving bags are then distributed to various local authorities, trusts and foster carers across the UK – most of whom have contacted us asking for bags.

Who we send bags to first depends on various factors including who is most in need, how many young people the organisation or individual has in their care, and when the young person is moving.

That being said, we do our best to ensure bags are distributed to everyone on the list in keeping with our mission to distribute 100,000 pack-away travel bags to children in care across the UK and Ireland by April 2024.

Because no child should carry their life in a bin bag.

If you are a foster carer looking after a child or young person on a short-term basis, or you work with a local authority or trust and have a need for pack-away bags, please get in touch for more information.