Baby Basics Bolton & Bury
Baby Basics Bolton and Bury provides ‘Moses basket starter packs’ to vulnerable women and families with a Bolton or Bury postcode who are having, or have had, a newborn baby. Health and social care professionals refer to us when they meet a parent who is unable to provide the essential items needed for their baby, which could be for a number of reasons, including poverty, domestic abuse, bereavement, disability and trafficking. Our starter packs include the Moses basket, a brand new mattress, bedding, toiletries for mother and baby, nappies, clothing, toys, and an information pack highlighting local services that families can access. Our service also goes one step further in meeting the needs of babies as they grow and their needs change and develop, so we also provide clothing bundles, prams, cots, highchairs, baby baths, stair gates, play mats, bouncers, toys and books for children up to the age of three years.
About Us
We are part of The Bridge Church and are based at Bridge Life Centre, The Bridge Church, 109 Bradford Street, Bolton, BL2 1JX.
Our team are in Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 9.30am and 3pm. Emails may not be responded to outside of these hours.
Our centre is open for donations Monday to Friday between 9.30am and 4pm.
You can find details of donations that we can and can’t accept below, and a list of our donation points on a pinned post on our Facebook page:
Meet the Team
Our volunteer team is made up of 10 individuals who join us on a weekly basis to sort donations and lovingly prepare referrals. We are also fortunate to have a wider network of team members who will collect donations, iron, fix equipment and knit beautiful items for our baskets.
Get Help
Our service works via professional referral only.
We take referrals from any professionals and organisations supporting families, including midwives, health visitors, social workers, charities, churches and schools.
We support families with children from pre-birth to three years old.
Families
Do you live in Bolton or Bury, have a child pre-birth to three years and need help with items for your family? We can help. Please talk to your midwife, health visitor, social care professional, or any charity or community organisation that may be supporting you. They will be able to make a referral on your behalf and we will liaise with them. We do not accept self referrals.
If you have not seen your health visitor for a while or do not know how to contact them, contact your GP or local Family Hub who will be able to put you in touch with them.
Make a Referral
The most helpful time for us to receive a referral is around eight weeks before a baby’s due date. If you are making a referral for a child that is born, our turnaround time is two to three weeks. Please be aware that we receive lots of referrals on a weekly basis and are often booked up, and although we will always do our best to accommodate emergency referrals, there may sometimes be a wait for items.
We may not always have everything that you have requested available, and it may sometimes be that a family is added to a waiting list for a particular item.
Once we have received your referral, we will offer you a collection date if we are able to help. We will not process your referral until we have received confirmation that you are able to collect or another date and time has been agreed. Please note that referrals must be collected by the referrer or a named colleague (families are unable to collect items themselves).
If there is anything that is not on the referral form that you think we may also be able to help with, please ask as we sometimes have extra items in or can offer advice as to where you might be able to get them from.
When completing our referral form:
- Please complete one form per family (multiple children in the family can be included on the same form).
- Please ensure you are using a new blank form each time and mark clearly with an ‘X’ next to the items you are requesting.
- Email completed forms to babybasics@bridgebolton.com.
We understand that families can remain the situation that they have found themselves in for a period of time, so they may need to be referred on more than one occasion. However, we are not a long-term support service, so if we are receiving multiple referrals for a family, it may be that we signpost you to some more beneficial support that you can assist them with.
Telephone referral
To discuss a referral in more detail, please contact 01204 361704 and ask to speak to a member of our team.
Give Help
Donating secondhand items
Two thirds of what we provide are high quality preloved items. We update our social media with a weekly ‘Wanted Wednesday’ post, highlighting the items we are most in need of each week.
We ask that all items are clean and clothing is washed and sorted into sizes/categories in clearly labelled bags before being brought to us to speed up our processing.
Donating equipment
We are limited in storage space so please email or call us on 01204 361704 if you have a larger item to donate or if you are unsure if we can accept an item. We cannot accept any items that are broken, missing parts or needing excessive cleaning.
Equipment we can accept:
- Moses baskets and stands (new or preloved in excellent condition, without mattress)
- Baby baths (mould-free, no stand)
- Sterilisers (cold water or microwave)
- Bottles (new)
- Toys (suitable for 0-3 years, no soft toys, no missing pieces)
- Highchairs (excellent condition, including harness)
- Prams (by appointment only, 5-point harness, brakes and folding mechanism fully operational, clean)
- Cots/cot-beds (by appointment only, excellent condition, complete with all fixings, no damage, disassembled)
- Play gyms
- Bouncy chairs
Equipment we cannot accept:
- Next-to-me cribs
- Swinging cribs
- Travel cots
- Used electrical items
- Used breast pumps
- Formula or baby food
- Maternity clothes
- Used mattresses
- Bumbo seats, jumperoos, walkers or large toys
- Talcum powder
- Potties
- Furniture
Donating new items
You can donate in the following ways:
- Buy and drop items to us (see address above)
- Buy from our Amazon wish list
- Buy online and have them delivered to us (see address above)
New items we can accept:
- Baby and children’s toiletries (shampoo, baby wash, lotions, wipes)
- Nappies (size 1-6, but we mostly need size 1)
- Adults’ toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, new hairbrushes, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, maternity pads, breast pads)
Donating financially
Regular or one-off
One-off and regular donations help ensure that we are able to cover the core costs that keep us running, or allow us to purchase necessary items that are not donated. You can donate financially using the link below, and selecting ‘Baby Basics’ as the fund:
How can you get involved?
- Volunteering – We are currently unable to take any more volunteers at our centre, but please keep an eye out on our social media for any opportunities in the future.
- Ironing – We need people who can collect clothing from us, iron it and return it.
- Knitting – We love giving out knitted items and families love receiving items that have been handmade for their child. We have specific requirements for what we are able to accept so please get in touch.
- Fundraising – We support anyone who would like to fundraise for us.