Siân Briddon
Co-founder and Trustee
Comfort U Bags (CUBs) support children going into foster care for the first time
The original idea for Comfort U Bags came from one of our founders Siân who was an ex foster carer for Bristol City Council. She believes that every child deserves to feel a sense of dignity and that every child going into care deserves to pack their belongings in a special bag that they can call their own. Her vision is to provide a proper bag, filled with comforting and essential items, to these brave children in foster care on their journey to find their forever home.
Siân pitched this idea to her fellow colleagues where she worked while on a leadership programme as part of the project they needed to devise. All of her colleagues were equally enthused and this idea came to fruition in July 2017 with the help of the amazing team.
The backpacks are purchased through fundraising and then anyone can ‘adopt a CUB’ which involves taking a backpack and filling it using a content list which has been approved by Children Services; although the content is standard and items must be new to preserve the dignity of the recipient, the adopters have the autonomy to choose brands and retailers.
Over the years, a mixture of fundraising and ‘adopt a CUB’ initiatives has been held supporting children who go into care service in the Wiltshire and Swindon areas.
CUBs became a registered charity in 2022 and continues to help children in Wiltshire and Swindon by raising awareness of fostering and adoption and fundraising to provide the Comfort U Bags.
Adopt a CUBOur mission is to ensure that all children and young people going into foster care in Swindon and Wiltshire have a Comfort U Bag of their own. We believe that every child deserves to feel a sense of dignity and so our vision is to provide a proper bag, filled with comforting and essential items, to these brave children in foster care, on their journey to find their forever home.
Siân brings a wealth of experience and passion to the charity. As an ex-foster carer, she is dedicated to supporting children entering foster care. Siân is also a committed advocate for mental health, serving as a Mental Health First Aider and Instructor. Her deep understanding of the challenges faced by foster children and teens, as well as foster families, underpins the mission of the charity.
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Neil has supported CUBs right from the beginning and was instrumental in establishing charity status in 2022. Neil continues to show tremendous passion for the values we underpin, taking responsibility for liaising with the Charity Commission to ensure we're doing everything right, as well acting as in a Treasury capacity.
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Katie takes an active role in supporting the day-to-day running of the charity (multi-tasking!). Her passion for charity work drew her to support Comfort U Bags when she heard of the good things CUBs was doing to support children and young people. Katie likes to get involved in lots of activities and was the inspiration behind the first CUBs fundraising Ball back in 2019. Since then, Katie has been involved in gaining charity status alongside Neil, supporting 'packing parties' and securing the new website build with Gel Studios in 2023/24.
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Lindsey co-founded CUBs alongside fellow colleagues Sian, Neil and Alex. Since then, Lindsey has been a huge advocate, campaigner and fundraiser and the driving force behind the Adopt a CUB campaigns each year. Her organisational skills and tenacity has generated a real buzz about CUBs amongst colleagues and supporters. Lindsey is our main point of liaison for Wiltshire County Council with whom she's built up enormous trust and respect.
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Alex has been with CUBs right from the beginning, supporting with everything he can. He's calm and offers a brilliant perspective when making decisions which has helped us drive CUBs in the right direction. Alex is always happy to help with stock-takes, packing parties and anything that comes his way. He's taken responsibility for liaising with external companies, and as we enter 2025, Alex hopes to really champion CUBs and get our charity 'out there' even more!
Read more
Co-founder and Trustee
Siân brings a wealth of experience and passion to the charity. As an ex-foster carer, she is dedicated to supporting children entering foster care. Siân is also a committed advocate for mental health, serving as a Mental Health First Aider and Instructor. Her deep understanding of the challenges faced by foster children and teens, as well as foster families, underpins the mission of the charity.
Co-Chair and Trustee
Neil has supported CUBs right from the beginning and was instrumental in establishing charity status in 2022. Neil continues to show tremendous passion for the values we underpin, taking responsibility for liaising with the Charity Commission to ensure we're doing everything right, as well acting as in a Treasury capacity.
Co-Chair and Trustee
Katie takes an active role in supporting the day-to-day running of the charity (multi-tasking!). Her passion for charity work drew her to support Comfort U Bags when she heard of the good things CUBs was doing to support children and young people. Katie likes to get involved in lots of activities and was the inspiration behind the first CUBs fundraising Ball back in 2019. Since then, Katie has been involved in gaining charity status alongside Neil, supporting 'packing parties' and securing the new website build with Gel Studios in 2023/24.
Co-founder and Trustee
Lindsey co-founded CUBs alongside fellow colleagues Sian, Neil and Alex. Since then, Lindsey has been a huge advocate, campaigner and fundraiser and the driving force behind the Adopt a CUB campaigns each year. Her organisational skills and tenacity has generated a real buzz about CUBs amongst colleagues and supporters. Lindsey is our main point of liaison for Wiltshire County Council with whom she's built up enormous trust and respect.
Co-founder and Trustee
Alex has been with CUBs right from the beginning, supporting with everything he can. He's calm and offers a brilliant perspective when making decisions which has helped us drive CUBs in the right direction. Alex is always happy to help with stock-takes, packing parties and anything that comes his way. He's taken responsibility for liaising with external companies, and as we enter 2025, Alex hopes to really champion CUBs and get our charity 'out there' even more!
Nationwide Building Society’s prestigious Annual Awards ceremony is the culmination of their recognition programme; their opportunity to say a special thank you to colleagues who live and breathe their values and make a difference every day. CUBs co-founder Siân Briddon jointly won the Social Investment Ambassador of the Year award for her contribution and support
The APM Project Management Awards have been celebrating exceptional achievements in project management for over 20 years. The Awards recognise the very best individuals, projects and programmes the profession has to offer, from aspiring young project managers to complex and transformational projects and programmes both in the UK and overseas. With a total of 16 categories recognised at the awards ceremony, the APM Project Management Awards offers project professionals the chance to achieve the recognition they deserve. Comfort U Bags was a finalist in the Social Project category.
- A happy kid, Age 10
