Need
help?
To receive our help, you need to be referred by a professional, such as a midwife, health visitor, food bank or children’s centre.
What support is available
Little Village provides equipment, clothes and toys to families with children under the age of 5. Everything we provide is donated by other families — we talk about items being ‘a gift from one family to another.’
If you live in one of the boroughs listed below, we can provide clothing and shoes (up to age 5), essential baby equipment — including a safe place to sleep for your baby/child, bedding, a sling, a buggy, feeding and bathing equipment, toys and books, nappies & wipes. All these items are delivered safely and directly to the your home or you can chose your items from one of our family shops, depending on your location.
Who we can help
If you don’t live in one of these areas, view the UK baby banks map to find your local baby bank. You can also find a list of family support resources here, including other ways to source baby equipment and clothing, as well as more general support.
What will you receive?
We will send you a box (or boxes) packed with the items you asked for. Any bigger items will be packed and may be delivered separately on a different day. We will send you a week’s worth of clothing per child up to age 5, plus coats and shoes, as well as any equipment, toys and books requested. If you come to one of our family shops, you can choose the items you need.
Everything is second hand (apart from mattresses, nappies, toiletries and bottle teats, which we supply new) but it’s all in great condition and will have been checked for safety.
What happens next?
If you are receiving a delivery, we will contact you after all your items are packed, usually the day before your delivery to check your address and confirm roughly what time your items will arrive. It’s really important we have the right address so that we can deliver your items to you. If you can’t be in, please find a neighbour or safe place where we can leave the items for you.
One of our friendly volunteers or a courier working on our behalf will deliver to your doorstep. We can’t bring them into your house, so if you’re expecting heavy items such as a cot and can’t lift these yourself, it would be good to have a friend or neighbour who can help.
If you are attending one of our shops you will be given an appointment time to visit. You will be able to select items you need and take them home with you. It’s a good idea to bring a large suitcase or friend to help you get everything home.
Because we are experiencing very high demand for our support, it might take around 4 weeks from the date of your referral to when you receive your items. However, if you are in a very urgent situation, we will do what we can to support you sooner.
Finally, you will receive a call a couple of weeks after you have received your items to welcome you into the Little Village community and to offer you further support and signposting if needed.
Other sources of help
If you don’t meet our criteria for support, or don’t live in one of the boroughs listed above, there are other ways you can receive help.
View our list of family support resources, for other ways you can find baby equipment and clothing, along with lots of useful resources.
View a map of other baby banks in the UK to find one near to where you live.
Get a referral
To get help from Little Village, please show your midwife, health visitor or support group this website and ask them to make a referral for you.
Please note
Little Village has introduced a daily cap on the number of referrals we can accept to allow us to meet the current high demand. The form will be opened at 9.30am each working day and once this quota has been met the form will close and reopen again for referrals at 9:30am the next working day. If the form is currently closed, please check back here the following working day at 9.30am.