'It doesn't have to be this way': More than 200,000 kids needed help from baby banks last year

At least 200,000 children and babies needed support from a baby bank to provide basics their families could not afford last year, new figures have revealed.

Baby banks, which provide items like clothes, shoes, toys, toiletries, nappies and buggies, saw a 54.4% increase in demand for their services between 2021 and 2023.

That is according to new figures from the Baby Bank Alliance, a newly-formed collective of baby banks across the UK.

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A group of 148 baby banks reported helping 199,180 children and babies in 2023. There are more than 300 baby banks in the UK, so the alliance estimates that at least tens of thousands more children have been helped.

Sophie Livingstone, the chair of the Baby Bank Alliance, said: “It’s heartbreaking because we’re in the sixth richest country in the world. It doesn’t need to be this way.

“Seeing the work that baby banks do up and down the country is incredible. The community response to that need is so heartwarming and inspiring, but there shouldn’t be needed for a crisis response.

“They should just be a network to share all the baby grows and buggies that have got lots of life left in them between families. That’s what we’d like to be but we’re so far away from that.”

The Baby Bank Alliance is the first of its kind, with more than 150 members and growing.

Formed by Save the Children UK, Purposeful Ventures, Little Village and the Baby Bank Network Bristol, the alliance increases access to funding, goods and volunteers baby banks in the UK.

It also provides training and resources they need to run effectively so they can continue to meet the rising needs of families in their local communities.

Hannah Pentith, executive lead of the alliance, said: “These new figures reveal the shocking scale of child poverty in the UK and the urgency of action needed to tackle it.

“Bringing a child into the world is one of the most precious moments for any parent, and yet so many begin this journey without the essentials every baby needs. It’s unacceptable that parents or carers should be agonising over the cost of everyday items. 

“Some children don’t have the little things we all take for granted every day; a book to read, a warm blanket to cuddle up with or a pram so mum or dad can take them to the park. The impact of this can follow a child for the rest of their lives.

“Baby banks are stepping up by normalising reuse of essentials, protecting our planet, alleviating the impact of material deprivation and building a community to help each other through difficult times.”

Baby banks are often run by volunteers out of community halls, garages, warehouses and sometimes living rooms – providing essentials to local families and also a welcoming space and a support network.

The alliance is urging the new Labour government to take action to reduce child poverty, so that communities are not having to serve as a crisis response service for soaring levels of child poverty in the UK.

It has joined the calls for Labour to remove the two-child limit on benefits in the Autumn Statement.

“I think they just need to get rid of it,” Livingstone said. “There’s really clear evidence that it will lift 300,000 children out of poverty. I know the government are looking at child poverty and they’ve got a taskforce at the DWP. That’s great. But if you’ve got a lever you can pull that will do something straight away, why would you not do it?”

Find out how to support a baby bank or get support from a baby bank through the Baby Bank Alliance’s website here.

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