The volunteer-run service, which initially launched in March 2024 at Greenland Community Centre in the town , was set up to support families facing financial hardship or crisis. It accepts good quality second hand clothes and essential items such as nappies, toiletries, and bedding, along with some items of equipment, for babies and children up to the age of three. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
The items are then distributed to families in need through referrals from third parties such as community midwives, health visitors, churches, schools, local charities or community organisations. Meanwhile, the service is currently seeking donations of a number of items. In a post on their Facebook page , Home-Start East Antrim wrote: “As we have moved to new premises now, we will be working through all the clothes donations to see what we are actually short of.
“At present we are very low in the following toiletries: baby shampoo, baby bath, baby moisturiser, cotton buds, cotton pads, nappy cream, nappy sacks, sponges, [and] baby wipes. Also size 5 and 6 nappies. “If you can help with any of the above, please drop off on Tuesday morning 11.
30am-1pm or Thursday evening 6-7pm at First Larne Presbyterian church basement. We really appreciate every donation we receive no matter how small.” Advertisement Advertisement The Home-Start East Antrim service is one of 300 baby banks across the UK who are members of the Baby Bank Alliance.
In July, the Alliance revealed that almost 9,000 babies and children in poverty across Northern Ireland have been supported by a baby bank in the last year. With 25 percent of children in the UK living in poverty and 20 percent in absolute poverty, baby banks have responded by giving families over 13,000 items such as warm clothes, books, baby toiletries and equipment. The Alliance is joining calls for the UK government to abolish the two-child benefit cap, which prevents parents from claiming universal credit or child tax credit for a third child, calling it one of the main drivers of rising child poverty in the country.
Baby banks across the UK have seen a 54.4 percent increase in referrals for their services between 2021 and 2023. National World encourages reader discussion on our stories.
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