The Madlug Story

Madlug is a lifestyle brand with a difference. Selling predominantly rucksacks and holdalls, the brand, whose strapline is Life Goes Inside, gives a bag to a child in care with every purchase.

This Community Interest Company[1] was founded by Dave Linton in 2014, after he and his wife attended a fostering course. During the session they watched a video, in which an interviewee stated, “Health trusts don’t provide suitcases. Sometimes foster carers loan us a suitcase but more often, our belongings are moved in black plastic bin bags and we lose our dignity”.

This insight into the lives of those in foster care changed Dave’s life. “The fact that children would carry their belongings in a black bin bag resonated with me, forcing me to think how we could make a difference. For the remainder of that evening, I could think of nothing except the bin bags.”

Over the following days he considered ways in which he could help children in care make their way with dignity. As he researched and evaluated possible options, he was continually drawn to how the value and dignity of children in care seemed to be somehow lost in them having to carry their worldly possessions in a bin bag.

He also learned that there are currently over 93,000 children in care in the UK and that over a third of care leavers are not in education, employment or training at age 19.

“As I learned more about children in care, and asked God what I should do, it became more and more evident that he had placed a desire in me to champion the value and worth of children in care. I decided to begin a movement that provided quality bags to every child in care when an individual purchased a bag - buy a bag to give a bag – hoping to do away with bin bags, old boxes and flimsy shopping bags, while simultaneously providing care leavers with employment and training opportunities.”

And so, Madlug was created. Short for ‘Make a difference luggage’, it does just that: it gives every person an easy opportunity to make a difference in a child’s life. Madlug raises awareness of the value and worth of children in care, while helping them make their way in dignity. Dave’s dream is to see Madlug grow and to employ and train young people in care.

“A child is taken into the UK care system every 15 minutes. This rate is alarming, and we want to be there to help children making this move. We hope that our story is exciting and that people will choose to purchase a bag from Madlug, enabling us to give a bag to a child in care and help them to make their way with dignity.”

For more information visit www.madlug.com and follow Madlug on twitter & Instagram at @weareMadlug.

[1] Madlug is registered as a C.I.C (Community Interest Company) which means that all profits and assets are locked into helping vulnerable children.