The founder of a community organisation that provides free clothes, toys and equipment for children has reported that demand has "never been higher" - a statement that lands somewhere between a statistic and a cry for help.
Hartlepool Baby Bank now sees about 150 families a week, a tenfold increase in those needing help since it opened in 2019. Chair Emilie de Bruijn explained: "Parents can't find work that fits round children, childcare costs keep rising, people are just really struggling." The Department for Education, which subsidises childcare, has been approached for comment - presumably to explain how this is all going according to plan.
The bank was started by de Bruijn and two friends after they realised "there was a real need", which is the understatement equivalent of noticing a small leak just before the dam bursts. Government figures for 2024/25 show 27% of children in Hartlepool are living in absolute poverty, measured as a household income below 60% of the national average.
"We started with six families our very first week, 12 on our second, then 30, then 50 - people just kept coming," de Bruijn said. Anyone can ask for help, ranging from "a bit of advice" to an emergency service that delivers "everything needed for the first few days" in the case of an unexpected or early birth.
People are also asking for more items than before. "We have had 139 brand new families this year, and more than 2,000 repeat referrals, that's families who we have already helped," de Bruijn said. "A few years ago they'd just be looking for shoes, now they need coats, they need clothes as well."
Any donations are welcome, but cots, toiletries, nappies and maternity pads are particularly needed - "even opened packets". "It's one family to another, it's a community supporting itself," de Bruijn said. "So many people who come to us are working-poor, but they are stuck in this cycle they can't get out of because of childcare costs and that means demand for our help has never been higher."