Hospital Project
Through our Hospital Project, Mothers’ Union is developing relationships with hospitals across the diocese, helping families who are in hospital:
Toiletry Bags for Women and Men
Toiletry bags for women are filled with mini-sized essentials ~ soap, body wash, shampoo, body lotion, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, comb, tissues and a goodwill message from Mothers’ Union.
Toiletry bags for men contain shaving foam/gel and a disposable razor.
These bags are mainly provided for the John Radcliffe and Royal Berkshire hospitals and in particular for parents using the Ronald McDonald House at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, this house provides accommodation for families of children being treated within the hospital. In addition to toiletries the Mothers’ Union also provide tea, coffee, hot chocolate, washing-up liquid and other household cleaning products. Further information can be found HERE
All these items are donated regularly by different branches in the diocese and our Diocesan Members, but anyone can donate to this excellent cause at any time. See the list of donating branches on HERE
Working with Prisons & Prisoners in the Diocese
MU members donate, or make, cards for the prisoners on a regular basis. The main emphasis is on providing a Christmas card for each prisoner in Bullingdon Prison, North Oxfordshire. These cards have a hand-written message inside from the members of Mothers’ Union in the Diocese of Oxford. Alongside these cards the members also provide cards that the prisoners can send home to their families. All these cards have a sticker on the back saying that they have been donated by the Mothers’ Union.
As well as Christmas cards a smaller supply of suitable blank cards are donated to Bullingdon and these are used by the prisoners if there is a bereavement in the family or used as a form of getting their message across to family members.
Mothering Sunday cards are also donated for the prisoners to send to their own mothers, where appropriate.
Around 1,000 prisoners are held at Bullingdon so the members do aim to send in around 1000 hand-written Christmas cards and 1000 blank cards too, a challenge the members enjoy.