# 2019 eBay for Business Awards open for entries with Charity of the Year category - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/07/24/2019-ebay-for-business-awards-open-for-entries-with-charity-of-the-year-category/ - Published: 2019-07-24T07:30:37+01:00 - Author: Melanie May **This year’s eBay for Business Awards are open for entries, with the chance to win £5,000 in cash, and a dedicated Charity of the Year category.** The first of this year’s [eBay for Business Awards](https://ebayawards.com/) judges to be announced is Elaine Edwards of Families and Babies, who won the Charity of the Year category last year. Elaine Edwards started [Families and Babies](https://www.familiesandbabies.org.uk/) started as a support group for new mums after struggling herself to find help, and has since developed it into a charity helping with various aspects of new family life. ## Advertisement To increase revenue for the charity and make it more self-sufficient, Families and Babies launched its eBay shop in 2010 selling new and used donated toys and clothing.   [⌊Elaine Edwards Families and Babies ⌉](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2019/07/Elaine-Edwards-of-Families-and-Babies-2.jpg)   Edwards said: > “Putting in the time and research to see how other eBay sellers were making their > money was one of the most useful tactics. At the time we were making £2,000-£4,000 > per year, but this has grown to £18,000 this year alone, after nine years in business.” > “The support we get from eBay has been instrumental to our success, particularly > since winning the Charity of the Year Award at last year’s eBay for Business Awards. > Our goal now is to increase our sales ten-fold. I truly believe the work we do > on eBay could sustain the business completely in the future and allows us to keep > running the services we provide.” Since starting on eBay in 2010 sales have grown to £54,000, which has helped Families and Babies set up new support groups for 280,000 families across the UK, hire 38 paid staff and buy a warehouse for their stock. More information on the eBay Awards for Business and how to apply is available [on the site](https://ebayawards.com/). * **[Tracy Brabin’s ‘Shouldergate’ dress raises £20,200 for Girlguiding](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/02/13/tracy-brabins-shouldergate-dress-raises-20200-for-girlguiding/)**( 13 February 2020) * **[eBay UK announces £1.7 million funding and training support package to boost charity online retail](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/06/26/ebay-uk-announces-1-7m-funding-training-support-to-boost-charity-online-retail/)**( 26 June 2020) * **[Stars raise £7,000 for Oxfam’s coronavirus response in eBay auction](https://fundraising.co.uk/2020/07/30/stars-raise-7000-for-oxfams-coronavirus-response-in-ebay-auction/)**( 30 July 2020) ![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader- 2x.gif)