GRAZIA
As charities are forced to ration baby formula because of soaring demand, Grazia’s Christmas appeal is fundraising for the parents struggling to feed their children. Here’s how you can help…
GRAZIA CHRISTMAS APPEAL
IT was friday afternoon when the call came in to The Baby Bank charity in Windsor. ‘I was getting ready to leave work when a health visitor called and said she had a mum who didn’t have enough formula to feed her baby,’ says Rebecca Mistry, the charity’s co-founder. ‘When I asked if she could wait until Monday, she said there was only enough powder to make up one more bottle.’
Rebecca set up The Baby Bank in 2015. Now demand is growing : in 2019 The Baby Bank charity helped 1,600 families, which grew to more than 3,000 in 2020. As we approach Christmas, they’ve had more than 5,000 requests this year for help.
A baby bank is similar to a food bank, with families being referred by midwives, health visitors or doctors, and receiving donated items such as clothing , prams and milk. Rebecca says demand for formula has increased by 40-50% this year.
‘We’re getting lots of calls from desperate parents and demand is outstripping donations. The mental health toll on mothers is enormous,’ she says. One mother said she has been using her local baby bank since her husband lost his job and relies on it for formula ‘now that a tub costs almost £16’. Despite the vital work done by baby banks, Rebecca says they shouldn’t even exist. ‘We’re a wealthy country, there shouldn’t be any need for ser vices like ours. But while there is, we’ll do everything we can to help.’
It was recently reported that baby banks across the UK are being forced to ration formula because of soaring demand from parents no longer able to afford it. Data shows the cost rose by 22% between March 2021 and April 2023, with the price of feeding a 10-week-old baby now close to £89 per month. The Scottish Government is currently working to introduce plans to help struggling families, but there are no such plans from Westminster.
For 35-year-old Teesha Thomas, the night after she visited her local baby bank was the first time she slept soundly in months. ‘I was pregnant with my third child and it was the first night in a long time I didn’t wake up worrying about how I was going to provide for my children,’ she says. Teesha’s son Myles is now eight months old (her two older children are 10 and 11); having always taken pride in working hard and never asking for help, a third pregnancy and the cost of living crisis caught her off-guard. ‘I felt like I was letting my kids down knowing I couldn’t afford the things they needed,’ she says. ‘I couldn�
