2026-04-04-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT THE OXFORD BABY BANK Registered Charity number 1190257

EAST OXFORD COMMUNITY CENTRE PRINCES STREET, OXFORD OX4 1DD

For the period 1[st ] April 2025 till 31[st ] March 2026 Charity trustees who have managed the charity for this period:

1. Dr Emily MacKeith General Practitioner CHAIR

2. 9 Southcroft, Old Marston Oxford OX3 0PF [e-mail]

3. Caroline Barry Consultant Clinical Psychologist

SECRETARY AND FUND RAISING

7 Northmoor Road Oxford OX2 6UW

[e-mail]

3. Emma Poynton Retired Teacher

TREASURER

48 Quarry Road, Headington Oxford OX3 8NX [e-mail]

1. MISSION STATEMENT

The objective of the Oxford Baby Bank is to help to alleviate poverty amongst families who are struggling to cope with the cost of raising babies and toddlers.

The vast majority of our recipients are in OX4. As noted in Oxford City Council’s strategy 2024-28, 10 out of 83 neighbourhoods in Oxford are in the 20% of most deprived places in England. 1 in 4 children live below the poverty line in these areas. Oxford is a very unequal city with pockets of severe deprivation. We work with our referrers to try to supply essentials to families struggling with equipment and clothing costs. The aim is not just to supply necessities, but to help to

make children in the most difficult circumstances healthier and safer. The fact that we have resources stored means that we are in a position to supply . responsively and in emergencies

2. IMPLEMENTATION

The service we provide is available to residents of Oxford and surrounding villages and small towns, including Witney, Abingdon and Wallingford. A secondary object is to promote waste reduction, as the vast majority of what we give away is recycled. We do provide new mattresses, stair-gates and buggies, largely owing to safety concerns in passing on certain items, but the bulk of the clothing and equipment that we give away to families has been collected from donors in the community.

We aim to achieve our objective by collecting clothing and equipment from families who have finished with it and distributing it free of charge to women who are in substantial need of material help in caring for their babies and toddlers. These resources are stored at our base, so that we are in a position to supply responsively and in emergencies.

Recipients are referred by community midwives, health visitors, social workers, GPs, women’s refuges etc. In this way, we identify those in need of

support. Following a referral from a midwife, our team will do a drop off to the woman concerned. This is often in something of an emergency, as pregnancies are concealed or the woman has only accessed health care late on. In our small way, we hope to reduce stress levels in women coping with adverse circumstances, but we are also mindful of the pressure that looking after women in difficult circumstances imposes on the professionals involved. So supporting the midwives and other frontline healthcare staff is a significant driver for us, and very much core to our values.

For other referrals, we ask the professional referrers to pick up from us. Initially we invited recipients in to the baby bank, but this proved inefficient, as people often did not understand the system, had no transport and did not attend. Latterly, the number of health visitors in the city has diminished significantly and they find it hard to pick up. In order to support their requests, we have now got a volunteer in place who will deliver to their referrees. We also order some things online to be delivered directly.

3. COLLECTION

After some experimentation over the past 7 years as to how to collect our stock most efficiently, we have settled on the method of posting our email address

on our website and inviting parents with things to donate to contact us. In this way, we can ascertain whether we need what is on offer, can accept the things we need and graciously (hopefully!) decline things that we don’t require and can’t store. We have to be mindful of using our limited storage space in the most effective way and this means only stocking the most useful and necessary items.

We thank all the parents who have answered the call and given so generously.

4. STORAGE

We have had a very difficult 12 months, as the church where we were previously located was put up for sale and we were given notice to quit. There followed a very stressful hunt through much of 2025 for new premises during which 65 different organisations in the city were contacted. Oxford is a very difficult city for voluntary sector organisations to function, as the university is the predominant land and building owner. Eventually, supported by our Oxford MPs Layla Moran and Anneleise Dodds, we tendered for a room at the East Oxford Community Centre. We won the tender and moved in on 1[st] June following a temporary period in storage. This has been disruptive to our relationships. There was a period when we thought that we would be unable to

continue to function. This uncertainty was obviously communicated to our service users, many of whom really tried to help us in our search

The new premises are very well located a road parallel to the local community midwives and in an adjacent road to children’s social services. Going forward we hope that this proximity will facilitate easy access.

5. PUBLICITY

The issue of publicity is a tricky one, as there is no real necessity to reach out to the general public. Sufficient donors come forth to keep our supplies topped up without our going out of our way to publicise our organization. Our main aim has been to network with frontline staff to ensure that they know that they can call on us and that we will respond quickly and reliably in a way that supports them and their clients. Certainly awareness of our function and ability to react quickly is growing and word spreading by mouth. We were forced to pause donations at the end of 2025, as we did not know what the future held. Since our relocation, donations have been plentiful.

6. STRUCTURE

The Oxford Baby Bank is governed by a constitution. New trustees are appointed by the committee of trustees. The current committee of trustees will be in seeking to replace one of its members in 2026.

The trustees run the Baby Bank on a day to day basis as volunteers. Sometimes, they are joined on appointment days and collection days by other volunteers, who lend a practical hand. All trustees are DBS checked.

It is estimated that the volunteer hours clocked up during the financial year 2025/26 is around 650. This is more than usual owing to the considerable amount of work involved in tendering for the new premises, legal activities and moving twice.

7. ACHIEVEMENTS

During the year calendar year 2025, we helped 290 families. Over 80 of these received full kit out for their expected babies delivered direct to their accommodation in response to a referral from a midwife. Although we can’t always to do so on the day, on 2 occasions we supplied stuff in an emergency to the post natal ward at the JR for women in compromised positions from domestic

violence or trafficking. There is no other resource in Oxford that can respond so rapidly. We supply the safeguarding midwives at the JR on an on-going basis with provisions so that they are generally equipped for the unforeseen (there is more than you might think!)

In 2025, we accepted donations from over 300 donors. The families of Oxford have been very generous to those in need. People are thinking very consciously about waste and are strongly motivated to seek ways of recycling their clothing and equipment. In the main, charity shops do not accept baby equipment, so it is important to have a hub that acts as a nexus for giving and receiving for no charge.

In addition to supporting the work of health and social work professionals, we are now working regularly with organisations that support migrants (Migrant Help and Asylum Welcome) and housing associations providing specialist services to single mothers and refugees (eg A2 Dominion Housing).

Over 40% of our supplies go out to migrant families who do not have access to benefits. We have been a strong partner to organisations working with migrant families and the professionals involved in providing maternity services and safeguarding to this population. We want to contribute to Oxford in playing its part in in welcoming refugees in the UK. We are aware that the council is working towards

Local Authority of Sanctuary status and we are happy to contribute to this effort.

The response from families who have received donations has been very positive, as has that of the professionals who have referred or been part of our distribution network:

TESTIMONIALS

I am a Children’s Practitioner working for Oxfordshire’s Children’s Social Care in the Family Support and Safeguarding Service, our main office being in Union St in Cowley. Our team support hundreds of families and the vast majority have been supported by the Oxford Baby Bank.

The Baby Bank is an invaluable resource, which has provided endless supplies for our families. This includes feeding equipment, clothing, bedding, travel systems, cots, to toys and books as well as vital safety items like stair gates and childproof locks for cupboards.

The Oxford Baby Bank is an essential service, especially as the cost of living is now so high and families are increasingly unable to meet the basic needs for their children, many of them being on a lower wage or on benefits.

The Baby Bank is a safety net for these families and helps safeguard children. Their parents haven’t needed to worry or have added stress about not being able to afford an item, which in turn supports their mental health and parents feel like they are able to provide for their children.

Families are always incredibly grateful; many have been overwhelmed with the generosity and some crying with relief.

Caroline Barry is an absolute legend and has worked tirelessly, she is always so welcoming, accommodating, generous and incredibly kind, as well as she will go out of her way to deliver items to families if a professional is unable to do this.

Victoria Mannion Children’s Practitioner Blackbird Leys Family Solutions Plus Central Union St, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 1JP [e-mail] or [e-mail]

Dear Caroline

I wanted to drop you a line to extend my thanks and gratitude for the numerous times you have assisted with the women I care for in Oxfordshire. You and your team always go above and beyond with all requests to the Oxford Baby Bank and you truly have no idea what a difference you have made by both your generosity and support to the women we care for.

There has never been a time when you have not been able to support/help with any request and you always excel in every referral we make to you.

We are extremely lucky to work with you and will be forever grateful for your kindness support and compassion

You and your truly are one in a million – THANK YOU!

Best Wishes

Denise Pearce

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Denise Pearce Foundation Trust

The Womens Centre Midwife – Delivery Suite and Community.

John Radcliffe Hospital Tel: [phone] Headington

Oxford Email: [e-mail] OX3 9DU

Dear Oxford baby bank Team,

I am writing to you with a heart full of gratitude to thank you for the beautiful clothes, sleeping basket and stroller you donated for my newborn daughter.

In the midst of the joy and challenges that come with welcoming a new baby, your thoughtful gesture has been a tremendous blessing to our family. We are truly touched by your company's kindness and the care shown through such high-quality items. It is rare and inspiring to see an organization go above and beyond to support families in such a meaningful way.

Please accept my deepest appreciation for your generosity and for the positive impact you have made during this special time in our lives.

And thanks to my midwife for helping me to get to know about your wonderful team.

With sincere thanks and warm regards,

Sobia Abbasi

8. FINANCIAL REVIEW

We have been well supported over the years by many local charities and trusts, who express a strong desire to see us continue and indeed grow. Important donors have been the Pye Charitable Settlement, the City of Oxford Charity, the Charity of Thomas Dawson, the Lebus Family Trust.

We are particularly grateful to the Lebus Family Trust and the Pye Charitable Settlement for helping to guarantee our rent for the next few years which allowed us to get a 10 year lease on our room at the East Oxford Community Centre. This stability is a huge relief to all involved.

9.HOW EXPENDITURE HAS SUPPORTED THE KEY OBJECTIVES OF THE CHARITY

Our main expenditure rent for our base at the East Oxford Community Centre and formerly at the Cowley Methodist church. There has also been significant outlay on new cot mattresses, buggies, microwave bottle sterilisers and stair-gates. We

regard this as essential, owing to safety and hygiene issues. We source as economically as we can.

Our fixed cost (rent) in the financial year 2025/26 was £3,150 per annum. Based on the number of people we helped this financial year, that is an overhead of only £10.86 per family. We consider this to be a modest outlay per family helped, especially as many received hundreds of pounds worth of donated goods. The overhead per family may be higher next year, as our new accommodation is somewhat more expensive, but we want to see referral numbers go up, so we may be able to maintain this very modest overhead.

10.DECLARATION: The trustees of the Oxford Baby Bank declare this to be a full, transparent and accurate account of this year’s activities.

Signatories:

Emily MacKeith

Caroline Barry

Emma Poynton