I have always had the appreciation for sustainable second hand children's & preloved clothes. As a child, I had many hand me downs and would visit the charity shops with my parents. Having two older sisters also meant that I got to snap up their favourite wardrobe additions, once they outgrew them!

When I had my first child, my love for preloved baby clothins & second hand children's clothes and accessories grew even more! I was able to snap up all of the necessary baby clothing at a fraction of the price, my first pushchair was preloved too! I quickly became an eco-concious parent and started looking for other ways to lower our carbon footprint as a family. We chose to use cloth nappies on our youngest and I began looking for bargains in charity shops even more.

I couldn't believe my luck when I found the most adorable vintage St. Michael's floral dress with adorable embroidered collar, I instantly fell in love and snapped it up for my youngest.

I returned to work from maternity leave and I quickly realised how busy our life was going to be, we found out that our son had extra needs too and then covid hit our house. My eldest daughter has severely effected by covid, which resulted in a hospital admission and has suffered from issues ever since.

I started to sell used Kidswear and second hand children's clothes on several clothing platforms, whilst also looking for my children's next sizes! I found it fascinating that I could snap up bargains and most of the items looked like new!

I started with just a labelled few boxes of preloved baby & children's clothing stored in one corner my unit and would look online, at carboots and charity shops for new additions. I completed over 500 sales and gained 5 star feedback on every sale.

In mid March 2023, I make a quick decision to leave my full time job. It was a very hard decision and caused my many tears but I knew it had to be done. My youngest daughter was not coping well in her childcare setting and we had no other option for childcare, So I knew I had to put her first and be at home with her. The decision was made easier by knowing my eldest and my son both had extra needs that require me at home too.

I've always been one for keeping busy, so not even a month later, I decided to make a jump for it and launch Little Ones Preloved! I envisioned a website full of high quality second hand baby and second hand children's clothes and afforable prices and I dreamt of making it a reality.

The fashion industry is one of the largest polluters in the world, it made sense to try and promote a sustainable way of shopping.

I hate the idea of throwing things away and actively looked for ways in which we can recycle and reuse more items. I decided to work to restore clothing by stain soaking, fixing holes and debobbling, further keeping second hand kids clothes in circulation.

Little Ones Preloved was born

I launched Little Ones Preloved on the 3rd April 2023 to share my passion of preloved baby and second hand children's clothes to more families, and to help more families with an affordable alternative to clothes shopping for their little ones.

We sell good quality second hand children's clothes, preloved and new baby clothing to parents who want to shop sustainably, save the pennies and the planet. We gained a lovely lot of Granmas who love to shop for their grandchildren too! I love doing what I do, and enjoy giving a new life to clothes.

Children are never in their clothes for long, but these outfits give a story and we'll see these stories for years to come, when we look back at the pictures we've taken. I love to think that those outfits have gone onto create stories for more little ones.

Little Ones Preloved stocks clothes from newborn to 14 years. We have a range of new items, school wear and even playwear. We quality-check all of our items when they arrive with us and follow up with more quality-checking during packing.

As a mum of 3, I'm always rushed off my feet and I know how hard it can be to fit shopping into your weekly schedule! Thats why we've made Little Ones Preloved easy to shop online, so you can shop on the go!

We stock many brands, from high street breans like Next & M&S, to designer brands like Joules, Ralph Lauren and even sought after handmade brands like Popsy and Mama. The bonus comes with the price tag, you're saving money and shopping sustainably!

You can also sell your preloved baby & second hand children's clothes to us, where we offer payment per Kilo per store credit or BACS/Paypal. We accept most children's clothing and shoes in good condition, there are a few exceptions to what we accept. Read more here.

Helping Families in Need

As a parent, the cost of living crisis greatly concerned me. Within the UK, we already have a large population of people living in poverty and on the bread line, we just don't always see it for ourselves. Thats why I decided to launch my 'Clothing in Deed Initiative' to help families in need within Norfolk.

I began when sorting out stock, I would find items with small imperfections or stock that has simply sat around and not sold. I began wondering what I could do with these items, there were second hand children's clothes, still in usable condition, far too good to throw away too. It was when I visited our local Tesco's that I decided I needed to do something. I was browsing the baby & children's clothing and noticed just one baby outfit was £16, now imagine trying to fill a little ones wardrobe up with those prices! Plus thats supermarket prices too!

I was also a member of the local 'Giving in Kindness' Facebook groups and saw far too many posts about needing children's clothing, I knew I had to think of a plan or a way to help some of these people.

I started to compile a box of clothing that I will donate to families in need and posted on social media, to let people know. To my surprise, I had families contact me, offering donations to my Clothing in Deed initiative, they too wanted to help families in need.

I offer 2-3 parcels to families in need each month, I send these parcels to the families and I cover the postage costs. So far we have been able to send out over 20 parcels, all have gone onto helping children in need.

Awards & Mentions

In July 2023, I was extremely excited to hear my business had been selected as a Small Business Sunday Winner by Theo Paphitis. Being a massive Dragons Den fan, I couldn't believe my luck! Someone was seeing the potential in my business and I was overjoyed!

I was jumping for joy even further in October 2023, when we recieved an email from The Small Business Awards, saying my business had been shortlisted for The Norfolk Small Business Hero Of The Year 2023!! I couldn't believe it when I heard that people had nominated my business, for doing what we do to help others! I'm so excited to attend the awards ceremony in early 2024, to celebrate all the amazing Norfolk Small businesses! I'm reaching the public vote stage very soon!

My local Newspapers Dereham Times & EDP even published an article about my business being shortlisted! This was a nervewracking time for me, I have a habit of wanting to blend into the background and now suddenly my face was in the local news! You can read the article here.

Another great achievement came in October 2023, when I was contacted by The Business Awards, stating my business had been Shortlisted for a Regional Award! We WON the Sustainability Award!!

In November 2023, my business reached the public voting stage for the World Eccomerce Awards!

Also in November 2023, I was contacted by Lux Life Global Excellence Awards, letting me know that someone had nominated my business! I couldn't believe it that someone had taken time out of their busy day to nominate my little business, I was overjoyed. We went on to be selected as the 'Best Preowned Baby /Children's Apparel eTailer - UK'!!

I can't believe how many kind and thoughtful people are out there, and cannot thank you all enough for giving me the determination to continue doing what I do.

Thank you for reading all about Little Ones Preloved, if you have any questions or would like to get in touch, please email info@littleonespreloved.co.uk

Emma x