Press release: Baby bank launches first ever Crisis Fund to help Afghan children

Little Village press release

31 August 2021 – for immediate release

Press contact: Emma Gibbs 07593 135790

Baby bank launches first ever Crisis Fund to help Afghan children

Baby bank charity, Little Village, has today launched its first ever crisis fund to enable it to provide essentials like warm clothing, nappies and toiletries for under 5s who have arrived in the UK from Afghanistan. The appeal will also enable the charity to support the scores of UK families it usually sees each week.

Since launching an appeal for children’s items on Saturday 28 August, Little Village has supplied eight hotels across London with bundles of clothing, nappies, toiletries, toys and activity packs for at least 410 children. Two other baby banks, Stripey Stork and Mammakind, have also provided a large number of bundles of clothing and equipment.

The items were donated by generous members of the public and have been sorted, packed and delivered by Little Village to the London hotels where many of the Afghan refugee families are quarantining.

Little Village said it has received thousands of donated items of pre-loved children’s clothing, toys, and bedding and has now run out of storage space and is currently unable to accept any more. Little Village hopes the Crisis Fund will enable it to continue its work helping the refugees.

Little Village’s CEO, Sophie Livingstone MBE, said:

“When we first heard about Afghan families arriving without warm, clean clothes and nappies we knew we needed to do something to help. We launched an emergency appeal for clothing and equipment and within hours the items started flooding in. We’ve been totally blown away by the outpouring of kindness from our local communities and people across the country.

“People have been exceptionally generous, in donating items and also volunteering their time to help us to pack and deliver them. We’ve been reduced to tears on more than one occasion by people’s generosity.

“We aren’t accepting any more items at the moment, but we know that people are still desperate to help. The best way to support us now is to donate money so that we can continue to provide items to the children from Afghanistan, as well as the scores of London-based families we already support.”

You can read Sophie’s blog about our emergency response here.

Little Village is part of the Emergencies Partnership, a group of voluntary and community organisations that have come together to provide relief to the Afghan refugees arriving in the UK. The charity is taking the lead on providing support for children between the ages of 0 and 5.

Ends

Notes to editors

About Little Village: Little Village is a child poverty charity, providing clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children up to the age of five. The charity has seen demand double in 2020 and is on track to support 6,000 children this year.