Be dazzled parcels guidelines and rules

                         

Hi everyone! I'm afraid this is a far more formal blogpost then others will be but I ask that anyone who wants to get involved with the project reads through the rules whether they are here to nominate someone or would like to donate. 

This project really comes from my heart and I want to do everything I can do to protect it for the future so it can run as long as possible and I feel the best way we can make this
happen is by running it like a tight ship. 

I will split the rules into three categories; Donating, Nominating and rules for the group. Ok! Off we go! 

                          

Nominating someone to receive a parcel; 

To nominate someone for a Be Dazzled Parcel you have 3 options. You may; 

• Message me through Facebook. I am Chloe Stripes
• Send an email to bedazzledparcels@yahoo.com
• Comment in the Facebook group Be Dazzled! which you can request to join. 

You may disclose the reason you want to nominate someone or you may choose to keep this to yourself. All I need is their name. To make things as fair as possible and to prevent this project from becoming a competition of suffering the selection of the winner will be made totally randomly by pulling a name from a hat live on FB so their current life situation will bear no weight into the likelihood of them being chosen.

 I don't mean for this to seem heartless but the spectrum of suffering is so enormous amongst those living with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and their families that it seems unkind to decide someone is more 'worthy' of a parcel then someone else. 

Suffering is such a deeply personal process and just because someone may have medically more complex issues then someone else or be going through a huge traumatic change in their life (such a breakdown in a marriage etc) it doesn't mean their suffering is worse then someone who has recently had to accept they will need a wheelchair for the rest of their lives for example. 

Suffering is suffering.

To keep things as fair as possible once someone's name has been put forward for a nomination even if other people also nominate that person each name will only go in the hat once. 

I have decided upon this because not everyone living with EDS has a large involvement with the online community which could be as a side effect of their illness so it seems unfair to let someone go in the hat 5 or 6 times because they have a larger circle of friends. I hope the community can appreciate this and it doesn't upset anyone. As I say I am trying to make this as fair for everyone as possible. 

Once someone has won a parcel I'm going to ask that people wait a minimum of 4 months until they are nominated again (this gap will get smaller the more parcels I can put together each month) to give other people the chance to recieve a parcel.

Children and nominations

A child who is living with EDS themselves, is the child of a parent living with EDS or a sibling to someone living with EDS can be nominated and it is my deep hope that we will be able to provide every child nominated with a parcel automatically and they will not go into the big monthly draw with all the adults. 

To try to support as many children as possible multiple children from one family can be nominated however they will recieve a smaller parcel each so that everyone in the family at least gets something. This for example might be; A funky pen, chocolate bar, stickers, lip balm, bubbles and packet of sweets (that's one bundle so each child in the family would get a bundle that size. As written before this is just an example and actual items will depend on what we have in stock at the time the nomination is made) 

Once you have made a nomination, whichever method you have used please email me via bedazzledparcels@yahoo.com with the name of the nominee again and their address. I ask this be done at the point on nomination so there is no delay in sending the parcel. 

How do you make a donation?

Tony my husband is my fulltime carer so we live on a very limited income. Although we do our best and will continue to do so for this project to be as successful as I hope it can be it is going to rely upon the generosity of both the well and the chronically ill community. 

We will be paying for the postage and packaging of the parcels and have already brought additional gifts to go with the (non financial) donations I have recieved already, we will also be buying the personalised parcels for children who are nominated whilst the gofundme account is being set up and hopefully takes off. To give the children a really special parcel I will liase with their parents to make sure they are getting things that suit their personality along with likes and dislikes. 

If you are a crafter or business and would like to make donations to the project firstly THANK YOU! If you could email me at bedazzledparcels@yahoo.com we can sort out getting the donations to me. 

To keep a trail of everything donated I ask that before you send your donation you take a photograpgh of what it is you are donating then in the same photograpgh please have a piece of paper with the following information on... 

• The date
• How many items you are donating into categories (for example 5 zebra necklaces 3 pairs of earrings 1 bracelet rather then 9 pieces of jewelery)
• Your signature

I'll then take another picture when it arrives with me to 'log it into the project' this just helps track all the donations made to the project. 

This may all seem a little extreme for a small time charitable project but a friend of mine has recently been awfully bullied by trolls online and I don't want to take any chances giving people the opportunity to say anything against the project which will stop it reaching and helping the people who it is designed for. 

If you don't make crafts but would like to make a donation of a physical gift (rather then financial) below is a list of ideas, please bear in mind the weight of items when doing your shopping as I will endevour to keep postage costs as low as possible so the main majority of funds is going on gifts. 

     

•  Pens (biro, gel or felt tips
• 
  
• Light notebooks
• Colouring pencils
• Adult or child colouring books
• Rubbers
• Body spray
• Nail polish
• Eye shadow
• Face masks
• Travel size bubble bath/shower gel
• Nail file
• Small bath bombs
• Lip balm
• Dry shampoo (small to medium not the huge one)
• Empty travel size toiletries bottles (people can use in hospital)
• Small book of positive quotes/positive affirmations
• Cuddly toys (please be aware of the size!)
• Light bath toys for children
• Travel size board games
• Figit spinners
• Loom bands
• Top trump cards
• Small scented candles
• Aromatherapy oils (lavender and geranium are good for relaxation and sleep which is a real problem for people living with EDS)
• Body tape to attach nasal feeding tubes to the cheek (etsy/ebay)
• Nice but inexpensive jewelry
• Small light trinket boxes
• Postcards of the coast/ countryside/flowers etc
• Letters of encouragement
• Word search books
• Word game books
• Moisturizer
• Travel shampoo and conditioner
• Hair masks
• Eye masks
• Warm gloves (a lot of people with EDS suffer with poor circulation)
• Bubbles (blowing bubbles for children)
• Squishy toys
• Stress balls (to squeeze)
• Small address book
• One4all gift voucher (accepted in 55,000 UK stores)
• Anything zebra print goes down a storm