2023 Breastfeeding Buddy Training – Cork

Today is the day, FoBF is very excited to announce dates for our first round of Breastfeeding Buddy training in almost five years ??? and the application form to apply to become a FoBF Breastfeeding Buddy is now live! You will find the form here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BuddyForm22W You can also find it via the link in bio. The form takes about six (6) minutes to complete but you can save the application as you go and review before submitting. This round of training will take place in Cork on weekend dates from February – May 2023. A second round of training will...

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Digital Marketers & Content Creators: Volunteers Needed

Friends of Breastfeeding is seeking to convene a subcommittee of digital marketers and  content creators, led by our Communications and Marketing Trustee, to work on a number of exciting campaigns/projects we have under development and contribute to our day to day activities which increase Friends of Breastfeeding visibility, engage our audiences and support the charity’s long-term strategy. FoBF is a completely voluntary registered charity, providing peer breastfeeding support all over Ireland. We are a small but committed team with big plans for the future of the charity. Since the Covid-19 pandemic we have shifted much  of our service provision to online and social media. We are looking to consolidate and improve our online offerings in tandem with the return to providing in person peer support. This is an exciting opportunity to work as part of a team in developing our ‘third service stream’ of digital information and support and lead special campaigns, such as fundraising and awards campaigns. The Role: Friends of Breastfeeding is seeking individuals with digital marketing and/or content creation expertise. If you have experience or training in this area and want to play a key role in developing the look and feel of our digital activity, we are eager to hear from you. Depending on skills your responsibilities may include the following: Creating, delivering, evaluating and optimising digital marketing strategies aligned to organisational strategyManage and create...

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Fundraising Volunteer

Friends of Breastfeeding is seeking an experienced Fundraising Officer to join our National Committee. This role will be a Trustee of the charity and National Committee member.  FoBF is a completely voluntary run registered charity, providing peer breastfeeding support all over Ireland. We are a small but committed team and take great satisfaction in positively impacting the development, health, learning and wellbeing of Irish children, as well as maternal health and wellbeing. The Role: Friends of Breastfeeding is seeking an individual with training or experience experience of fundraising in the charitable sector. Previous voluntary experience serving on a Board or Committee is desirable.  This is an exciting opportunity to join our organisation at a pivotal time and to build a new fundraising strategy from the ground up. If you want to play a key role in improving the health of Irish women and children we are eager to hear from you. Depending on skills and experience your responsibilities will include the following: To create and deliver a new fundraising strategy aligned to organisational strategy and plansTo maintain existing income streams and develop/establish new fundraising opportunities and revenue streams ;To build and manage donor, supporter and partner relationships with the objective of increasing  sources of sustainable funding for the charity;Explore opportunities with new and emerging fundraising technologies;Regularly inspecting the charity’s finances together with the Treasurer to advise the Board of...

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Are you a Company Secretary? We need you.

Friends of Breastfeeding is seeking a Company Secretary to join our Board of Directors/Trustees and National Committee. This role will be a Board Director and Trustee of the charity.  FoBF is a completely voluntary run registered charity, providing peer breastfeeding support all over Ireland. We are a small but committed team and take great satisfaction in positively impacting the development, health, learning and wellbeing of Irish children, as well as maternal health and wellbeing. The Role: Friends of Breastfeeding are seeking individuals with Company Secretary training or experience to provide us with comprehensive legal, governance, compliance and administrative support and guidance.  If you have experience and training in this area we are eager to hear from you. The charity is in the process of reviewing its legal structure, providing an exciting opportunity to be involved in that process and in mapping out new governance structures.  Depending on skills your responsibilities may include the following: Ensuring that the charity is compliant with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements, including ensuring that the charity is compliant with all relevant voluntary, statutory, and other regulatory requirements;Ensuring the charity is in compliance with the Charities Governance Compliance Code and that the charity’s Governance Record Compliance Form is maintained and kept up to date; Ensuring that the charity’s statutory registers are kept up to date;Handle all necessary filings with the Companies Registration Office and Charities...

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Friends of Breastfeeding Statement and Call to Action on the 40th Anniversary of the Adoption of the WHO Code on the Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes

Friends of Breastfeeding wishes the World Health Organisation Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes – a.k.a. ‘The Code’ – a very happy 40th birthday. We hope you’ll join us this week in celebrating its importance and achievements, and by nudging your local representatives for further action towards its full implementation in Ireland. Friends of Breastfeeding is fully committed to the values of the WHO Code – to protect breastfeeding, to protect all mothers and babies and to prevent aggressive marketing practices that can prevent mothers from meeting their own breastfeeding goals. This commitment is baked into our constitution as a core principle at the heart of the charity’s actions, and all of our activities and events are explicitly Code compliant. When the Code was first adopted on 21st May  1981 many of today’s breastfeeding mothers and their supporting partners were themselves babies (or not conceived). Yet the aim of the Code remains as relevant today as it was then: to ensure the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for all infants. The Code seeks to protect and support breastfeeding; and does this by ensuring the availability of impartial information, free from commercial influence, about breastmilk substitutes through the regulation of the marketing and promotion of these products. Why is The Code still so important? To maintain or increase profit, companies offering breastmilk substitutes need parents to formula feed...

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CALL TO ACTION: How to find your representative & a sample email

Step 1 Find the email details for your local representative on the Oireachtas site  https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/ If you don’t know your electoral area you can put your address into https://www.whoismytd.com/ and they’ll tell you.  Step 2 Tailor our draft email below. Include your address – so they know you are an important constituent. Dear [INSERT NAME], I am a constituent of yours and I am writing to you seeking your support with an issue that is of great importance to me. I would like to make you aware of the upcoming 40th anniversary of the adoption of the WHO Code of Marketing on Breast-milk Substitutes, which occurs on Friday 21st May 2021. The WHO Code aims to ensure the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for all infants. It does this by seeking to ensure the availability of impartial and adequate information about breastmilk substitutes through the regulation of the marketing and promotion of these products. These measures benefit all infants, irrespective of the way they are fed, by protecting consumers from predatory marketing practices and unverified claims related to infant nutrition products. The health of Irish infants is too important to be left to usual rules governing markets  and advertising. Ireland has adopted certain aspects of the WHO Code, primarily through the adoption of the European Communities (Infant Formulae and Follow-on Formulae) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 852 of 2007)....

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Chair’s Statement: Discovery of fraud against Friends of Breastfeeding

Friends of Breastfeeding have discovered that a former National Committee member of the charity, between July 2019 and March 2020, stole a significant amount of money from the charity. The money taken amounts to almost the entirety of the charity’s direct fundraising efforts for 2019. It includes the profit made from the All About Baby Fair 2019 and the Friends of Breastfeeding 10th Anniversary Gala Awards. It also includes donations received from the public at Mum2Mum Groups, via raffles, and other direct donations. We reported the criminal activity to the Gardai as soon as it was discovered and we have assisted with their investigation throughout this difficult year. An arrest has been made and a file has been sent to the D.P.P.. Operating under instruction from the Gardaí, we were not in a position to make this fraud public until now so as not to jeopardise the investigation. While we are deeply saddened to have become the victims of fraud, we fully accept our duty and responsibility to ensure every donation is used properly and for the purposes for which it was intended. As such, a thorough review of our procedures and practices has been conducted and we have already addressed the weaknesses identified. We have appointed a Vice Treasurer, which is an additional position to support our Treasurer. We have strengthened and amended many of our procedures to...

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FAQs: Discovery of Fraud against Friends of Breastfeeding

What happened? And when? Irregularities in the charity’s bank account were discovered in early 2020. The amount taken was €6,600 and the theft happened between July 2019 and March 2020. We reported the suspected criminal activity to the Gardai as soon as it was discovered and have assisted with their investigation. An arrest was made and a file has been sent to the D.P.P.. What money was taken? The money taken amounts to almost the entirety of the charity’s direct fundraising efforts for2019. It includes the profit made from the All About Baby Fair 2019 and the Friends of Breastfeeding 10th Anniversary Gala Awards. It also includes donations received from the public at Mum2Mum Groups, via raffles, and other direct donations. All of our grant monies received from funding bodies are safe and untouched, and our funders have been kept informed. Can the money be recouped? It is unlikely that we will be able to recoup the monies taken. No offer to return the money has been made and litigation to recover the monies may not be successful and would be very expensive. While Friends of Breastfeeding does have insurance, our insurance bill is already our single largest expense and the increased premium following a claim will likely, over a number of years, exceed the value of the monies taken. The avenues available to us to recover the funds...

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Are you a Website Wrangler Extraodinaire?

Are you a Website Wrangler Extraodinaire? Are you tech savvy and skilled in IT? Friends of Breastfeeding is looking for volunteers who can take on responsibility for:• web support and web development (coding, developing and laying out our website)• maintaining, expanding and scaling our website as needed• assisting our social media volunteer with the creation and publishing of relevant, original, high quality content; implementing a content editorial calendar; and integrating our marketing channels• liaising with our IT company when needed• graphic design and copywriting The commitment is approximately 5 hours per week. We can’t provide any remuneration but we...

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Breastfeeding Basics: 0 – 12 months

When you are expecting your baby, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you might receive! When it comes to breastfeeding, information is key. Here are a few short articles that should address the most common concerns among new parents. All articles are from reputable and non-biased sources. Your milk supply might be something you wonder about. Rest assured, the vast majority of women make plenty of milk for their babies. Our bodies are wonderful, and like any other body part, our breasts have a function and do “work” unless there is an issue that...

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