More help for families

Kidzeco moves to bigger premises

A West Lothian social enterprise is moving to bigger premises to ensure it can help even more families.

Charity Kidzeco, based at The Centre, Livingston, sells quality pre-loved children’s clothes, toys and equipment at an affordable price.

It is celebrating a major expansion after recently moving into new premises, double the size of their previous store, in front of the main multi-storey car park.

The move means it can stock thousands of high-quality products including clothes, prams, toys and bespoke handmade goods, all safety checked in line with its Revolve Reuse Quality Standard.

It will also have a relaxed, warm and welcoming community room in its upper floor level, where they will host a range of baby and children’s classes, parenting and community activities as well as a re-use training workshop where donations will be categorised and safety checked.

The additional space will also enable Kidzeco to increase the number of trainees and volunteers, including those who are furthest from the job market, to help them gain new skills and practical work experience.

Tracy Murdoch, a mum-of-three from Whitburn, set the venture up eight years ago after recognising how much people spend when they have a family on items of clothing, toys and necessities, which are often only used for a short period of time.

Tracy said: “At Kidzeco we want to do whatever we can to make life easier for parents not only financially but physically and emotionally too.

“Having a store which is now double the size of our previous one and in an even better location means we will be able to help even more families with young children and to be able to create more voluntary roles and work experience opportunities.

“We would like to say a huge thank you to the management team at The Centre who helped make this possible for us and to all of our staff and volunteers who have all worked extra hours to make sure we opened on time.

Patrick Robbertze, centre director, added: “We were delighted to be able to help Kidzeco expand their operation by moving to a larger unit in a great location within The Centre, allowing them to help even more people in the community.

“Already they have welcomed a lot of new families and the feedback so far has been fantastic.”