As Child Poverty Soars, UK Baby Banks Brace For The Toughest Winter Yet

At Hartlepool Baby Bank, volunteers work tirelessly to support 100 to 150 families each week – families who can’t afford to buy underwear for their children, or need warm blankets and beds to stop their babies from freezing in their cold homes.What started as an initiative founded by three friends has quickly become a lifeline for pregnant women and families in the area. Emilie de Bruijn is one of the founders. She said since the baby bank was first set up in February 2019, demand has increased every year. “It feels like each year we see a couple of record highs. It’s not just that demand has grown, it’s the amount each family needs has grown as well. Each family needs more and more items than they did at the very start,” she told HuffPost UK. Baby banks are community-based organisations that provide essential items for babies and children, free of charge. This might be clothes, it might be nappies and wipes, or larger items like cots and pushchairs. When I ask de Bruijn why families seem to be struggling more than ever, she said the parents she helps are citing “rising food and fuel costs [and] how much the schools are asking them to provide”.Discussing the latter, she said: “It’s just so expensive now for a family in terms of uniforms, PE equipment, even just paying for the school dinners.“Everything has just kept increasing and increasing and increasing, and wages haven’t kept up, benefits haven’t kept up. It’s just really squeezing families.”On top of this, she said, “a lot of families tell us they went through their savings in Covid”.Hartlepool Baby Bank was set up in 2019 to help families with items from food and clothing to prams and nappies. It’s a similar picture for Bristol’s Baby Bank Network, which regularly runs out of certain items due to demand and is currently operating “at capacity”.“We know that need is increasing, and we could help more families if we had more space,” said Becky Gilbert, the baby bank’s co-founder.The organisation is currently gearing up for the busiest months. “We usually see an increase in referrals to our service over the winter period, particularly in the run up to Christmas,” she added. The same goes for Little Village, a network of baby banks in London, which HuffPost UK is supporting as part of its winter appeal. In 2023, they supported children aged 0 to 5 years old 8,529 times. Fast forward to this year and they’ve already supported children of the same age 9,309 times – and that’s not even taking into account the next few months, when need ramps up.Sophie Livingstone, Little Village’s CEO, said: “Families are having to make choices about spending money on heating or eating.”She added: “The need that families are experiencing is really significant and I would say that their situations are getting increasingly desperate – it’s really depressing to see.”Inside Little Village's baby bank in CamdenRecord numbers of children are living in poverty across the UKThere is soaring child poverty in the UK right now – and if nothing changes, it’s only going to get worse.According to the Child Poverty Action Group, 4.5 million children are growing up in poverty in the UK, which is almost one-third of children.Poverty significantly harms children’s health, wellbeing and life chances – and parents are often forced to make impossible choices between buying basics for their kids (like a winter coat or a pack of nappies) or paying the bills. Lots of the families supported by baby banks face additional challenges such as homelessness, fleeing domestic abuse, seeking refuge/asylum, or navigating mental health issues.But families where one or both parents are in work are also increasingly needing support, as de Bruijn puts it: “Working poverty is huge. It’s absolutely huge. We see lots of mums who are working 12-, 15-, 18-hour contracts and dad’s full-time, and still don’t [make ends] meet.”Jo Gregory, of The Hummingbird Project, a community-powered clothing, baby and hygiene bank in Glossop, said demand this year “has been 50% more than last year and has been extremely diverse in terms of who has accessed our support”.“We have helped no- and low-income families, as well as one- and two-income families who have seen the cost of living rise so much that they are struggling to afford necessities for their families, especially those who are due a baby and don’t have the money to buy all of the equipment needed.”Their baby bank works a little differently to the others – while other organisations might help people who have been referred by a professional, and/or those who self-refer, at The Hummingbird Project, people can walk in and select their own items (a bit like you would in a shop), but it’s all free.“We find that this really helps to remove the stigma attached to asking for items and therefore it has dramatically widened the pool of service users that access us,” she said.Both de Bruijn and Gilbert note hygiene poverty is also a huge issue families are facing. In the UK, 1.1 million children are lacking basic hygiene products. Bristol’s Baby Bank Network has given out over 8,000 toiletry packs – made up of items like baby wipes, nappy cream, shampoo, soap, a toothbrush and paste, and maternity essentials – in the past 10 years. “People [are] getting excited when you give them a pack of sanitary towels because they don’t have them,” said de Bruijn, echoing that there is a huge need among families to have basic hygiene essentials provided. The baby bank in Hartlepool is spending over £1,000 a month on nappies and wipes to hand out to families.“We give out toothbrushes, we give out toothpaste, we started a toiletry pack because we noticed that our families smelled and we didn’t want to embarrass them – so we made it open to everybody,” said de Bruijn. “And if you needed one, you took one; and if you didn’t, you left it for somebody else.“And we noticed that by bringing out those toiletry packs, the smell went away.” People [are] getting excited when you give them a pack of sanitary towels because they don’t have them.Emilie de Bruijn, Hartlepool Baby BankAll of the baby banks HuffPost UK spoke to form part of the Baby Bank Alliance, a network of 400 baby banks offering a lifeline to families up and down the UK.Dani Adams, its executive lead, told HuffPost UK that in 2024 alone, baby banks across the country supported more than 200,000 families and distributed over 3.5 million essential items. “Despite this, we know baby banks are struggling to meet demand,” she said. “As the cold months approach, the cost-of-living squeeze hits hardest: heating bills, winter clothing for children, bedding, and baby essentials add up, leading to a surge in referrals to baby banks.“Our members tell us that many of the families they support are working, but their money just doesn’t last until the end of the month. Even parents that both work are now needing help, especially at this time of year.”Emilie de Bruijn recalled how one mum, who worked for the NHS, visited the baby bank – her child, who was in a pushchair, had a hole in one of their shoes.The baby bank founder spotted it and quickly offered a replacement pair. But the parent, who was ashamed of not realising her child’s footwear was damaged, burst into tears.She explained they wouldn’t be able to afford to buy new shoes for a month or so, to which de Bruijn said she would replace them there and then. “There’s got to be more to life than this,” de Bruijn said. “It worries me what we’re doing for the esteem of these families and these children in the future – the mental health crisis is only going to get worse while we have people feeling like that.”Bristol's Baby Bank Network service manager, Katy, folds clothes and blankets to send out to families.Something has to changeNew analysis released today from the Unicef Global Office of Research and Foresight reveals the UK saw the largest increase in relative child income poverty of 37 high-income countries between 2013 and 2023 – an increase of 34%.Dr Philip Goodwin, chief executive officer of Unicef UK, said the impact of child poverty “can last a lifetime”. The overwhelming consensus among baby bank founders and poverty charities is that the two-child benefit cap needs to be abolished to tackle this pressing issue.The cap prevents parents from claiming universal credit or tax credit for their third or subsequent children. There are strong hints from government officials, including the prime minister himself, that this could soon be scrapped or changed.“The Autumn Budget is a pivotal moment, a chance for the UK government to rewrite the story for thousands of children and prove that their lives truly matter,” Dr Goodwin said.“Scrapping the cruel two-child limit policy for families in the UK is not just morally right, it is economically smart. It is the single most effective way to lift hundreds of thousands of children out of hardship.”The government is expected to release its Child Poverty Strategy later this month. It has already made some steps to help children across the UK – extending eligibility for free school meals and committing to invest £500m in family hubs.In the meantime, at every baby bank up and down the country, there are unsung heroes going above and beyond to help others who are struggling to afford the costs associated with raising children and, indeed, living. It’s not just packaging parcels to send to families, it’s sign-posting families to support, listening to their stories, being there when nobody else is.On one occasion, de Bruijn recalled a mum asked if she could help bring her newborn home from hospital after she gave birth alone (her husband needed to stay home to care for their other children, as they had no other support), which she did.The baby bank co-founder said driving the tiny infant home with his mum was one of her “proudest accomplishments”.“That’s the difference a baby bank can make,” she continued. “We gave her companionship, we gave her support, and we were really part of their safety net. And they repaid us by volunteering.”She describes baby banks as “the hearts of the community for parents”.“It’s not just about the items – some people think it’s very transactional, it isn’t. I could tell you the names of all the families that come in. They’re part of my village and I’m part of theirs.”To find and donate to your local baby bank, whether by volunteering, sending in high-quality items, or donating money, visit The Baby Bank Alliance.Related...Inside The Baby Banks Quietly Holding Britain's Families TogetherChildren In England Living In 'Almost Dickensian Levels Of Poverty'Exclusive: Ministers Slammed Over 'Tone Deaf' Social Media Post Amid Soaring Child Poverty

Comments

Breaking news

David Lammy set to unveil major reforms to UK justice system this week

Independent

Comments

Breaking news

David Lammy set to unveil major reforms to UK justice system this week

Dozens of Palestine Action supporters arrested after fresh wave of protests

Pentagon rolls out the welcome wagon for new MAGA-friendly press corps

Cheating in lightning chess - how unproven allegations ended in tragedy

David Lammy says Labour inherited 'courts emergency' amid plans to axe most jury trials

New trial allows HIV testing kits delivered to your door with results on phone

Gemma Collins 'confirms she is staying in Essex with plans to buy new home after £1.8M payday' despite stalker hell and rumoured Dubai move

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Honesty in politics will count for nothing if Reeves does not quit

Crime boss 'living the high life' after returning to UK fights second deportation on human rights grounds

Reeves will be lucky if the only punishment for this shameful deceit is the loss of her job: DAN HODGES

Now Angela Rayner faces new storm over tax on her grace and favour apartment

EastEnders legend Shaun Williamson reveals heartbreaking reason behind his epic soap return

Exposed: the Dubai-based fat cats making millions from asylum-seekers' taxis

Linda Robson shares update on best friend and Birds Of A Feather co-star Pauline Quirke amid dementia battle

Neighbours star Holly Valance snapped lounging on a steam train with hard-Right thug Tommy Robinson... as friends of the pop star say she has gone down a 'rabbit hole'

Alex Scott jokes she's too boring for I'm A Celebrity after Lioness is first kicked out of the jungle

Andrew told Epstein victim: I know he's been 'inappropriate' with another woman... a YEAR before ex-prince met his accuser Virginia Giuffre, lawyers for abused actress claim

RIP Sir Tom Stoppard: The woman-loving wordsmith who fled Hitler to become the greatest (and wittiest) playwright of his generation

Freddy Brazier's pregnant ex Holly Swinburn breaks silence on their split as she claims star had 'drug parties with girls in her house'

Catastrophic south-east Asia flooding leaves at least 600 dead with tens of thousands displaced as villages are submerged

Ellie Goulding strolls in west London wearing padded £2,950 Miu Miu jacket... but is it to hide some 'good news' for her and boyfriend Beau Minniear?

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi backtrack on plan to stay in UK while Trump is in power as couple plot return to sunny California to escape chilly Cotswold winter

TALK OF THE TOWN: V&A is just not ready for Freddie as it turns down Queen frontman's fashion collection

Corbyn's Your Party in chaos after co-founder Zarah Sultana snubs her own conference

Thousands of men with prostate cancer risk life-changing side effects because they aren't offered type of therapy received by David Cameron

The five things that set the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season apart

Is tracking your adult children OK or should parents learn to let go?

They have six packs - but they're still jumping on and off weight-loss jabs

A simple test could have given our son a very different future

The Papers: 'Reeves must go' and Tom Stoppard tributes

It's time to lock in and let your winter arc begin

The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine

Syria Tiptoes Toward Transitional Justice One Year After Assad’s Ouster

First picture of ‘genuine and funny’ man, 25, who died after falling from tower block

Lotto jackpot rolls over to £8,600,000 after no one claims prize

MP Ayoub Khan ‘killed a dog with his hands to save a baby’

Prince William ‘moved by courage’ of Gazan children brought to UK for treatment

Arrests made in New York after protesters appear to foil ICE raid with barricade of bodies and garbage bags

Thanksgiving home invasion leaves dog dead and widow without wedding ring and mortgage payment

Female cop banned from force after making 'unwanted sexual approach' to senior officer

Ukrainian officials head to US for peace talks - while dramatic footage shows Russian oil tanker being hit

Woman jailed for having sex outside busy shopping centre in broad daylight

Councils given record funding to fix potholes - but could lose it if they don't

Man accused of shooting Glasgow gangsters dead at Spanish bar pictured

'Severe allergic reaction made me lose my memory - I couldn't recognise myself'

Mum and dad screamed 'help us' as son 'beat them, set fire to home then escaped'

Rapist Met cop David Carrick's downfall - from 'popular' boy to serial sex offender

'Black hole' row: Call for Financial Conduct Authority investigation

Reeves must go for her Budget lies, say voters: Poll delivers damning verdict on Chancellor as No 10 admits that PM also knew there was no 'black hole'

I'm A Celebrity's Alex Scott reveals she is leaving Australia early to be with her girlfriend Jess Glynne

I'm A Celeb viewers brand Vogue Williams 'Superwoman' as gym loving model 'smashes' brutal 'Total Wipeout style' trial

Extraordinary moment explosion sends concrete blocks and chemical tank flying through the air near homes in Sydney's west - with factory fire set to burn ALL DAY

Vanessa Hudgens gives birth! High School Musical star welcomes second child with Cole Tucker

Greta Thunberg launches foul-mouthed tirade at 'fascist' Italian government during pro-Palestine protest in Rome - days after climate activist was banned from Venice

Was Charles' secret Cotswolds meeting with King of Bahrain a summit on his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's future?

Paige, 27, was told she was going to die from terminal brain cancer. Months later, doctors looked at her scans in pure disbelief

Russian drone and missile blitz on Ukraine's energy infrastructure leaves more than 600,000 in Kyiv without power

German hard-right party sets up new youth wing as thousands of furious protesters descend on town

Romeo Beckham showcases his toned and tattooed physique as he goes shirtless for mirror selfie

Norris 'will try everything' to win title in Qatar