Walsall baby bank demand grows from struggling families

Kimberley says people are in need of things for newborn babies like bottles and a moses basket

A woman who set up a baby bank after she saw a need for one in her area said demand for help had nearly doubled in the past two months.

Kimberley began Tots in Need in February 2021 and works on referrals from midwives and health visitors.

Over the last eight weeks, she said there have been 40-50 referrals in Walsall, West Midlands, compared to 20-30 for the same period last year.

"Young mums who have nothing, people are really struggling," she said.

"There is no sign of it slowing at the moment, I've had to pull in more helpers. It's mainly demand for the whole newborn bundle so bottles, moses basket, buggy, for up to one-year-old."

The referrals include families struggling with the cost of living crisis, people with mental health issues and women who have fled domestic violence, Kimberley said.

"We are dealing with stuff like that daily. There are people who have no savings, nothing to fall back on," the 33-year-old added.

The baby bank received a lot of donations of second-hand goods which get turned into bundles for families

The baby bank, which Kimberley said has helped hundreds of families since it began, was run from three containers which cost just under £500 each month.

Walsall Council agreed to fund a building for the community interest company which they moved into earlier this year.

"It's helped massively. It means my children can come down as well, as I'm not worried as I was before about them being knocked down by a vehicle," the mother-of-seven said.

The baby bank has relied on donations of second-hand goods and the odd cash donation which Kimberley said goes into what they do including washing items.

Despite the rise in demand for help, she said she was keen to keep running the service and expand in the future.

"I would love it if we could branch out further, get another building elsewhere but for now I want to concentrate on what we are doing at the moment," she said.