Working together to help save lives
The HMF welcomes partnerships with organisations and companies who share our ethical values and with whom there is a clear opportunity to collaborate on projects that will progress the aims and objectives of the charity in relation to fundraising, environmental sustainability and/or education. We work closely with potential partners at the outset to establish clear agreements on the nature of the partnership activities, duration and terms and develop core principles that will promote a collaborative, transparent and productive working relationship. This process is completed on an individual basis and the complexity of the agreement will depend on the company and the type of commercial partner.
EPSON
Watch the video to see how the HMF Milk Mobile came to life
Employees of EPSON UK voted for The Human Milk Foundation to be their charity partner in 2019. We are so grateful for their support which continues to make it possible for our essential service to continue to run. The fundraising efforts from individuals have been incredible – with runners from EPSON taking part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon in 2021, and individual staff members taking part in sponsored bike rides, organising online quizzes and bingo, office bake sales, product sales, silent auctions and more. The company has also generously donated vital equipment to the milk bank to help streamline our operations including EcoTank printers, label makers and projectors. EPSON volunteers play an ongoing role in supporting the charity, using their annual volunteering day. In 2020 they helped us to plant snowdrop bulbs outside the milk bank in the shape of a giant heart to honour our bereaved milk donors as part of Baby Loss Awareness Week.
The synergy between EPSON and HMF’s work towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals has facilitated a number of education and sustainability projects. Together we launched a competition involving students from Longdean School, Hemel Hempstead who designed a car wrap for our ‘Milk Mobile’ donor milk delivery car which is used to collect milk from local milk donors and deliver it to the milk bank in Harpenden. The winning design was then printed using EPSON printers and applied to the car, which raises awareness of the charity on roads all over Hertfordshire and the south east.
Elvie
Watch the campaign video
In December 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Elvie launched a match-funding campaign on GoFundMe to help raise vital funds for the Hearts Milk Bank. The campaign was a huge success and raised over £16,000 which helped us to be able to onboard hundreds of new milk donors to support more families through times of crisis and save babies’ lives. Our deepest thanks go to Elvie and all those who donated to the campaign.
Elvie provides ongoing support to The Human Milk Foundation through the generous donation of six breast pumps per quarter, enabling us to provide these free of charge to support bereaved milk donors to express and donate their milk to the milk bank.
Black Sheep Brewery
In October 2021 Black Sheep Brewery chose The Human Milk Foundation as their charity partner. Through the partnership, the aim is to raise funds for the charity through a fundraising campaign and text appeal which features customised peel-back labels on bottles of the Milk Stout brand. In addition, the organisation will be working with HMF to raise awareness of the importance of milk banking in supporting new parents to feed their babies, with particular focus on highlighting the experiences of dads, partners and the wider family who play a vital role.
The campaign is called ‘Be the hero behind every drop’
