You may have heard about Baby Banks in the news or on social media recently highlighting the work we do writes Asiza Tait of the Forest of Dean Baby Bank.

Your Baby Bank has been around since 2017 and became a registered charity in 2020. From working out of our homes and garages we now have a dedicated storage space in Ruspidge, Cinderford.

This has enabled us to expand and help even more families, and this is clear in our records! Every year we have helped more families across the Forest and this year we have been visiting Baby and Toddler Groups all over to meet mums and dads and encourage them to use our services if they need some help. In today’s on-going cost of living crisis, we want to help as many families as possible.

What do we provide?

Nappies, Wipes, Toiletries, Dental Hygiene, Bedding, Towels, and clothes from 0-15 years old as well as school uniform from 4-16 years old. We also help with all kinds of baby related equipment, from baby baths, to changing mats, to strollers and prams, travel cots to potties. If you need it for a baby, we can help!

There are times when we don’t have an item, and this is when we rely on our amazing community – within minutes of an appeal going up we will have the item offered. We are continually humbled by the generous donations from families ready and willing to help others.

We accept professional referrals as well as self-referral as we want to make our service as accessible as possible to any family who needs help.

To give you an idea of how much we have accomplished so far this year:

We assisted families over 600 times, given our 250 baby bundles, over 500 clothing bundles, 70 bundles of bedding and 99 bundles of school uniform!

We are incredibly grateful for the amazing support our community gives us. From everyone who donates to us to local businesses and our wonderful local pubs who have supported us with fundraising, quizzes, raffles and having our donation pots on display, we couldn’t do any of what we do without all their support.

If you can support us, or want to work with us, please get in touch by emailing [email protected], calling 07789465127

or looking us up on social media at Forestbabybank.org or @fodbabybank (Facebook)

Baby banks receive donations of essential items for babies and children and pass them on for free, from one family to another. They are a lifeline for families who need help: providing parents with support, and children with the items they need to thrive.

The Baby Bank Alliance is founded by Save the Children, Purposeful Ventures, Baby Bank Network Bristol, and Little Village. It has representatives from additional baby banks sitting on its board and in advisory group and it consult sregularly with the baby bank community, to ensure it is providing the right support, where it is needed.