Baby Bank
Wanting to give something back to their community, two local mums, Amy and Rebecca, set up Baby Bank Windsor. They collect good quality, second-hand clothes, equipment and furniture, and gift it to families in need...
Tell me about you and where you live...
Amy and I both live in Windsor. I have Harry, nine, and Isabella, five. Amy has Helena, four, and Beatrice, two. I have lived here for 11 years and Amy for seven. Windsor is a beautiful town that has a great balance of shops, restaurants and things to do with the children. We have some amazing children’s playparks as well as the Long Walk, which is great for picnics, games and big get-togethers.
I love the fact I can walk into town in about five minutes, stroll to the Long Walk in
about seven minutes, jump in the car and within 10 minutes arrive at some great parks, restaurants and play areas. We love the Tree House Cafe, which is a great space for children and has great coffee. Heidi within Daniel's is great French patisserie and child-friendly. There are some really great independent restaurants in Windsor and Eton – and all a short walk from the town centre.
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Tell me about Baby Bank...
We set up Baby Bank Windsor in 2015 when we realised there was a need to provide practical support for families in our area who were in extreme need; families who were struggling financially for various reasons, due to job loss, domestic violence or benefit cuts. We give out clothes, nappies, buggies, furniture and sterilisers. Families are referred to us by professionals who work with children and their families.
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How did it come about?
Amy and I have always both ‘given back’ to our communities prior to living in Windsor.
We met at an NCT bumps and babes group. We talked about there being a need to do something to help families in our town and surrounding areas. We were aware of baby banks around the country. Whilst in the Tree house, someone uttered the words: ‘Try it,
see what happens.' Well, three years later, here we are! We love the fact that so many people in our ‘village’ are willing and wanting to help others, people’s compassion for others make us proud to be part of a movement that has emerged over the past few years.
What's your background?
We both have backgrounds requiring organisation and planning through the jobs that we have. This has set us in good stead for Baby Bank Windsor. The rest has been a learning curve from creating our initial website, spreadsheets, applying for grants and funding, social media... We haven’t done specific courses but we attend early years intervention meetings, talk with the professionals and we hope to attend some workshops on domestic abuse later on in the year. Our biggest thing at the moment is completing the work for our charity status.
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What's the best part of it?
The most fulfilling part has to be handling the bundles over to the families knowing that we will hopefully have made a difference; that realistically, without us, they would not have had these items. I think the hardest part is knowing that there are families out there struggling through no fault of their own, that we still have children in 2018 who are living in poverty and below the breadline on our doorstep.
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What are your goals?
When we first set up Baby Bank we didn’t have a set goal of how many families we wanted to help. Our aim is to be in a bigger space with washing machines, where we can refresh the clothes, furniture and buggies. We could also take more items – at the moment, we
have to turn items down due to lack of space. We would like to secure long-term funding
in order to do this and a van to do the deliveries for us.
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Who is your idol?
I think idols vary for us, from the professionals that work with families on a daily basis to those you see in the public eye – people like Jo Cox, Emma Watson and Malala.
What's in your handbag?
Having children, as you can imagine, our handbags are filled with the normal paraphernalia – sparkly hair slides, random pieces of lego, snacks, keys, receipts, wallet, water bottle, lipstick and the essential coffee shop loyalty cards!
Anything else we don't know about you?
Amy is a primary school teacher, choir member and was christened on an aircraft carrier.
I am cabin crew, a gin taster and training for a 10k (to raise funds for BBW).
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