Each year our National Conference proudly supports a charity and this October we will be raising funds for Tassie Mums, a not for profit group which provides essential items to babies and children in need by collecting donations of new and preloved baby and children’s clothing and other small items through donation drop points supported by individuals, schools and businesses.

Donations are sorted and bundled by volunteers, then rehomed via social service organisations to vulnerable and at-risk children throughout Tasmania. The recipients of these bundles are determined by welfare agencies which request goods from Tassie Mums.

The organisation was founded by Clair Harris, whose work was acknowledged by a Tas Local Hero Award in the 2024 Australian of the Year Awards. Clair started up Tassie Mums at her kitchen table in Hobart in 2018, after having previously been involved with a Melbourne-based group then called St Kilda Mums (since renamed Our Village).

“When I had my first child who’s now 15, I went on maternity leave and wanted to get involved in volunteer work,” Claire recalls, “and it was difficult to find something I could do with a baby in tow. But then I found St Kilda Mums and worked with them for a few years – I suppose it was the fact that I had a daughter who didn’t want for much, but there were clearly a lot of families and kids out there who did need support, so I was happy to help out.

“When I moved to Tasmania, I very quickly learnt how high the rate of child poverty is – currently in Tassie we have 114,000 children under the age of 14 growing up in poverty. Tassie Mums are supporting one in five of those children and over the next five years we’d like to push towards supporting one in three.”

The move to start Tassie Mums came after Clair relocated from Melbourne to Hobart. “I thought I’d join a local organisation and keep volunteering but when I spoke to teachers and parents it was clear there was no local organisation so the discussion moved to ‘why don’t you start one?’ I didn’t know anyone in Tasmania initially, but I went on a playdate with a friend and had taken along the paperwork to start a charity, and that friend, the lovely Madeline is now our operations manager and we’ve been running Tassie Mums ever since – we joke that she signed her life away!”

Initially Clair and Madeline were picking up clothing from the local school and sorting and packing bundles on Clair’s kitchen table, with case workers collecting them from her home. As Tassie Mums grew, they were able to move firstly into a 100sqm site and then five years ago into the current 300sqm site, which Clair says is now “bursting at the seams – we need more space, so we’re planning to build and own our own warehouse.”

Tassie Mums supports children and families with clothing, nappies, toiletries, books – Clair describes ensuring child literacy as a big challenge – and works alongside other organisations in the fight to end child poverty. “We’d like to see the Government introduce a definition of child poverty which can be measured and reported against, as well as the appointment of a Federal Minister for Children along with one appointed by each state and territory government,” Claire says. “We work with organisations like Seed Futures, which supports young mums nationally, and try to be involved wherever else we can, but like most charities we’re quite tight for staff, time and money.”

That said, Clair says Tassie Mums benefits from dedicated supporters and volunteers. “We don’t have a big corporate structure, which gives us flexibility in what we do, how we do it and how we communicate it. We’re in this grey area behind the frontlines – we often say we’re the support for the support, in that the material we provide goes out through over a hundred organisations throughout Tasmania.

“All our material aid goes directly to case workers who then present it to the children and their families, so we don’t meet the recipients ourselves. Thirty seven per cent of the case workers are government employees and we support hospitals, child and family learning centres, the CHaPS (Child Health and Parenting Service) nurses and other government programs as well.”

Volunteer support plays a big role in Tassie Mums’ day to day operations. “We have 85 volunteers who gave over 6000 hours of time last financial year. In addition to the volunteers who work in our warehouse, we have people who help out with social media support, donation drop point roles, volunteer drivers and more. A lot of our volunteers are retired teachers and nurses and I think that’s because they have that awareness of the importance of caring for children. They are the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society, and if we work to provide them with more positive outcomes, it’s better for the community as a whole.”

Clair says there are many ways in which people can lend their support to organisations like Tassie Mums. “For a start, it doesn’t cost you anything to jump on to our socials and interact with them – likes and comments on our posts help get them seen by a wider audience, which raises awareness and support. There’s a Get Involved tab on our website which gives advice on ways you can support us, such as organising fundraisers with your workplace. We also have a Makers tab on the website for anyone who’s a little bit crafty, which has loads of ideas for things you can make.

“A lot of supporters will also do online shopping for us when they see our most needed callouts – at the moment that’s size 14 clothing, so next week we’ll probably get lots of bundles of clothing in that aged bracket posted to us. You can also donate your bottle or can refunds in Tasmania to us. If you’re in southern Tasmania, you can volunteer to come into the warehouse and help out. If you’re in another state, we have a list of sister organisations on our website which we work with and which you can get involved with if they’re closer to your home.”

The latest figures underline the importance of such organisations: “Australia is set to hit one million children growing up in poverty by the end of the year, and that doesn’t seem right in a country like ours,” Clair emphasises. “I think some of us need to get out of our comfort zones and have a good look, because it can be such a hidden thing, but it really is in every classroom. Children often don’t have a voice so it’s really important we support them.”

Clair will be speaking at our Conference Gala Dinner in Hobart on the evening of October 14 and says she is very pleased that Hospitality in Healthcare is supporting Tassie Mums through the Conference. “Events like this are so important, in that they’re a way we can reach out to more people, including the male population who are not our dominant supporters – given most of our supporters and volunteers tend to be women, we are trying to bring more men into awareness of this issue. We were all children once, and at some point in the future we are going to be relying on the adults who are children now. From a societal perspective, it makes sense to give those kids the best start if you want them to be in the position to be able to support you later.”