Our CEO was honoured to attend the Shaping Us National Symposium this year.
What a great opportunity to join with so many others in the early years sector and discuss how we can make more of an impact and improvements for the next generation.
News
Vote for Us! Baby Basics Needs Your Support in the My Favourite Voucher Codes Charity Poll this November
This November, Baby Basics has a chance to win a donation of 20% of My Favourite Voucher Codes profits in their monthly charity poll.
Who Are My Favourite Voucher Codes?
My Favourite Voucher Codes are a voucher code website that donates 20% of they’re profits to charity every month. They are on a mission to save people money with great discounts while providing much needed support to as many good causes as they can. They have already raised over £64k for charity through their monthly charity poll.
What Is the My Favourite Voucher Codes Poll?
Four different charities take part in the My Favourite Voucher Codes charity poll every month, and this month Baby Basics is one of the nominated charities. At the end of the month the charity with the most votes in the poll will win the donation.
How Do I Vote in the Poll?
Click on the My Favourite Voucher Codes homepage
Scroll until you see the poll on the right hand side of the page, or at the bottom on mobile
Click the small circle next to Baby Basics
- The poll is free to vote in
- You do not need to use any vouchers to vote
- Everyone gets one vote
- The poll runs from the 1st to the end of the month.
Please vote for Baby Basics in the My Favourite Voucher Codes November charity poll. This donation will help us to continue our vital work. We are so grateful to everyone who supports Baby Basics.
The Power of Impact Podcast
Tune in to The Power of Impact podcast to here our CEO, Cat Ross, discussing the nature of poverty in the UK, and how we can work in partnership to alleviate it.
“In this discussion with Cat Ross, we learn about the origin of Baby Basics, how it has grown from a small organisation in a church building to a UK-wide charity delivering vital equipment to thousands. Championed by the likes of The Princess of Wales and Kate Bottley, the charity has found itself at the forefront of delivering relief to families.”
Tune in here
https://shows.acast.com/the-power-of-impact/episodes/cat-ross
Their Royal Highnesses The Prince and Princess of Wales take part in Royal Charity Polo Day
HRH The Prince of Wales took to the polo field today to play in the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Polo Cup at Guards Polo Club, with the day raising £1,000,000 to be shared by eleven charities supported by TRH’s The Prince and Princess of Wales. Today’s contribution takes the total raised from Royal Charity Polo Days played in the UK over the last 12 years to more than £12,000,000.
The Prince played as part of the U.S. Polo Assn. team alongside Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Amr Zedan and Mark Tomlinson. The opposing Standing Rock Polo team was formed by Philipp Muller, Ivan Rubinich, Malcolm Borwick and Clarinda Tjia-Dharmadi , with the BP Healthcare Polo team made up of Garvey Beh, James Beh, Henry Porter and Steve Cox.
In an exciting round robin format, it was the US Polo Assn. team who won with The Princess of Wales presenting the Out-Sourcing Inc. Royal Charity Cup to the winning captain Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha.
This year’s event provided a unique opportunity to support and raise funds for eleven of Their Royal Highness’s patronages. These organisations are: MHI (Shout), Wales Air Ambulance, Centrepoint, The Passage, Mountain Rescue England & Wales, Foundling Museum, Forward Trust, East Anglia Children’s Hospices, Baby Basics, Little Village and AberNecessities
‘Out-Sourcing Inc’s David M. Matsumoto said: “Out-Sourcing Inc. is honored to support today’s charity polo match. Knowing that this polo event will raise much needed funds for ten incredible charities aligns perfectly with the company’s own charitable ethos. Out-Sourcing Inc. focuses on creating platforms to highlight and support charitable endeavors across the world, including here in the UK.”
“Charity representative, Victoria Hornby, CEO of Shout/ MHI speaking on behalf of the eleven charities said all of the charities benefitting today support people in some of the most difficult and testing moments of their lives. The funds from this year’s Out-Sourcing Charity Polo Day will ensure that we can continue to be there to offer the support they deserve. “
The day was made possible by the generous sponsors and event partners. Thank you to Out-Sourcing Inc, who assumed the role of title sponsor and have a long association with fundraising events such as this. Grateful thanks must also go to the other sponsors and supporters including; Guards Polo Club, U.S. Polo Assn., Standing Rock Polo Team, BP Healthcare, Lugano Diamonds, Audi, AP&Co, The Cox Family of Oklahoma and Whispering Angel.
Sheffield baby bank inundated with support after cot appeal BBC News
Thank you so much BBC News for covering this story from our Sheffield Centre.
By Victoria Scheer
“A baby bank said it had been inundated with donations and support after issuing an urgent appeal for cots.
Baby Basics in Sheffield was forced to suspend its waiting list for cots after a spike in demand meant it had more than 20 families in need of help.
However, after appealing on social media the volunteer-led charity said it had been overwhelmed by offers.
Chief executive Cat Ross said since Friday they had been gifted 13 cots, with others offering to buy new beds.”
South Yorkshire baby charity says parents going to desperate lengths to feed their children by Rosanna Robins on Hallam FM news
Author: Rosanna Robins (Read Aritcle on Hallam FM by clicking here or read below)
It comes as we’re being warned the rising cost of formula is pushing some parents to try and steal it
A South Yorkshire baby charity has told us it’s thinking about providing formula milk due to a growing number of parents struggling to afford it.
It comes after we told you this morning about warnings of a health emergency – with charities reporting that some parents are being driven to steal it because of the soaring cost.
Baby Basics was founded in Sheffield and now has 55 branches around the UK.
It previously hasn’t given out formula, partly due to issues around needing to work with health professionals who want to encourage breastfeeding.
‘We hear stories of mums watering down formula and reusing nappies’
But CEO Cat Ross says families are becoming desperate:
“The need is growing. We’ve seen in our supermarkets it’s moving behind the checkout because formula milk is becoming one of the most shoplifted items.
“But also we hear stories of mums watering down formula in the same way we hear stories of mums reusing nappies because they can’t afford to buy another pack of nappies.
“At the end of the day a mum wants to be able to feed her child, and parents will go to whatever lengths they have to be able to do that.
“We don’t right now provide formula milk, but we’re also determined that actually we need to overcome those challenges to be able to support families with this need.
“We’re continuing to see a massive increase in demand. That’s everything from clothing, toiletries, nappies, toys and beds.
“And we’re also seeing a drop in donations. Everybody is struggling with the cost of living, so somebody who previously may have decided to donate their cot to us can’t afford to do that anymore because they need to sell it to pay their electric bill.”
Cat is also reminding families who are struggling to check if they are eligible for the Healthy Start vouchers, which is an NHS scheme aimed at helping people who are pregnant or who have young children.
“There may be people thinking they can’t apply for the Healthy Start voucher either because of their immigration status right now or because they’ve got immigration status but it says on their judgement ‘no access to public funds’,” says Cat.
“If you have at least one child under four years old that is a British citizen that was born in the UK, you can still access Healthy Start vouchers. And it’s worth going online and getting that application in because you can use those vouchers to help buy milk.”
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Our CEO, Cat, also spoke about the rising cost of formula milk on Hallam FM today. Did you miss it? You can catch up here and listen from 55:45
Baby Basics National Conference 2023
We were so excited to have our first ever Baby Basics National Conference! We welcomed our centres from all across the UK to our national conference held at St Mary’s Marylebone to celebrate our collective achievements and to spend time envisaging what is next for Baby Basics UK.
Our CEO, Cat Ross, thanked all the centres for their ongoing commitment, especially over the last 3 years as we faced the Covid-19 pandemic and welcomed families resettling from Afghanistan and Ukraine. She also shared what has been happening nationally.
Our wonderful patron, Rev Kate Bottley, thanked our Baby Basics Centres and shared her heart for Baby Basics and what we do as a charity.
The amazing Sarah McMullen, Associate Director of Research and Policy, from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood shared the work of the foundation and the Shaping Us campaign and how we are part of creating change.
We were blessed with some brilliant break our sessions. Cat Ross and Louise Ellis hosted a group chat, Jenny Pegg and Rev Kate Bottley facilitated a time of prayer and Marlene Gorman, Breath Work Specialist, led a relaxation session. Thank you so much to the wonderful leaders from these amazing sessions.
Our centres were able to discuss what’s on their heart for Baby Basics and fed this back to the larger group.
We also celebrated 10 years of the incredible Baby Basics Northampton.
It was a wonderful day and we are so thankful for all those that came.
Shaping Us campaign from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood
Baby Basics is proud to support the #ShapingUs campaign from The Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, spearheaded by HRH The Princess of Wales. We are thankful for them continuing to highlight the importance of the early years in shaping healthy, happy adults and calling for recognition of “The life-changing impact we can have when we create a supportive & nurturing world around children, and those who care for them”. Many of the families referred to Baby Basics find themselves, for many different reasons, needing extra support, whether physically, financially, or emotionally. We appreciate that what we do is a small but essential part of the holistic approach that is crucial if we want to see real change. If you want to help change the experience of a child by supporting your local Baby Basics centre, please find more information here http://www.baby-basics.org.uk/other-locations
What an honour!
Our CEO, Cat Ross, has been invited by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to be part of a team of 8 taking part in the Bloomberg/Harvard City Leadership Initiative – focusing on health inequalities in the early years.
This includes an intensive week of teaching, researching & planning in NYC (All cost covered by Bloomberg Philanthropies). We are excited to be working with other key leaders in South Yorkshire from NHS, LA’s & Sheffield Hallam University.
Cat’s hope is that not only will we see plans to improve lives for 0-5yr olds in South Yorkshire but the implementation can be replicated across other areas of the UK.
2022 Statistics
As 2022 comes to a close we want to say a massive thank you to every person who has volunteered, donated, funded and cheered us on this year. Baby Basics wishes everyone a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Baby Basics has supported 43662 children and their families this year.
