By Mikayla van Loon
Ten years and hundreds of hand crafted and painted Angel Boxes later, Croydon Men’s Shed has been instrumental in supporting families grieving the loss of a baby.
The partnership between the Men’s Shed and Mooroolbark’s Treasured Babies, which falls under the auspice of Red Nose, began in 2014 seeing the shed deliver 60 wooden boxes to the charity.
Fast-forward 10 years and the Men’s Shed is set to have delivered in the realm of 900 Angel Boxes by the end of the year.
“We’re delivering around 80 boxes a month at the moment…They go from here over to Mooroolbark and then they go all around Australia,” Croydon Men’s Shed secretary Geoff Coutis said.
“It’s important we send out the best possible product because when people get these, they’re in a really bad way, if they look at this box, it’s a beautiful box fitted for their baby.”
Angel Boxes are donated to families who experience miscarriage, stillbirth or SIDS, with clothing handmade by volunteers and each box fitted with a silk pillow and doona.
Treasured Babies volunteer Val Moore said the impact these items can have on grieving parents can be immense.
“I’ve been with Treasured Babies for 20 years and about 15 years ago, we had a person in from one of the funeral homes, and she said, ‘never underestimate what you’re doing, because it’s the only time these parents are able to make a choice for their babies’,” she said.
“With the packs we send them, plus the angel boxes and everything. It’s a sad thing, but it’s very worthwhile.”
Mr Coutis and Ms Moore said demand has doubled even in the last year, with Treasured Babies and the Angel Boxes now being supplied to interstate hospitals and some funeral homes.
The incremental growth each year has seen Croydon Men’s Shed build and paint 188 boxes in 2016, 252 in 2017, a joint figure of 885 in 2020-21, 525 in 2022 and 650 in 2023.
October marked pregnancy and infant loss awareness month, with an estimated one in four pregnancies ending in miscarriage each year, and approximately 3000 babies dying from causes such as stillbirth and SIDS in Australia.
Ms Moore said it is still unknown as to why this figure is so high.
“The important thing is with the Angel Boxes, we work as a team and we are meeting a really important need for families at a bad time, and we’re doing it Australia wide,” Mr Coutis said.
“It’s a real symbiotic relationship.”
For Croydon Men’s Shed, Mr Coutis said as much as “the idea of the men’s shed is about mental health” it is very much about supporting the community.
From refurbishing kindergarten furniture to making fully accessible garden beds and of course, the Angel Boxes, giving back is a huge part of the philosophy for the shed.
But this wouldn’t be possible without the support of Bunnings, Bowens, Bendigo Bank, Swinburne University’s Croydon Campus and Federal Deakin MP Michael Sukkar.
To keep this community project thriving and ensure Angel Boxes can continue to be made and delivered right across the country, Mr Coutis said a hardware store voucher wouldn’t go astray, nor would a Spotlight voucher for the volunteers at Treasured Babies.
For more information about donations, visit rednose.org.au/article/treasured-babies-donations
