Member Article

1000TH Baby Box Delivered To Combat Child Poverty In The North East

The 1000th Baby Box has been delivered in the North East this month, just 18 months after the project was launched 

The Children’s Foundation, the North East based charity behind the project, has placed essential Baby Boxes into the hands of 1000 first-time families across the North East since the project first launched in March 2023. 

Inspired by the original Finnish baby box, the box is the first to take a development approach to a child’s wellbeing, rather than focusing solely on their physical needs. Each box is packed with stimulating toys and books that encourage playing, laughing, reading, singing, and counting, as well as essential items such as a blanket, changing mat, bath towel, and thermometer, to help families get started. 

The North East has the second-highest rate of low income and deprivation in the UK after Inner London and the North East Combined Authority seeks to reduce the impact of socio-economic disadvantage on babies by focusing on the first ‘1,001 critical days’. Earlier this month (Thursday 19 September) local leaders from across the UK, including North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, met the new government Child Poverty Taskforce. 

With almost one in three children living in poverty in the North East, the Task Force heard about the wide-ranging and bold measures being rolled out in the region, including the distribution of Baby Boxes to the region’s most vulnerable families. 

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, said: “I’m determined to make our region the home of real opportunity and last month, we agreed to establish a new Child Poverty Reduction Unit which will aim to combat the alarming levels of child poverty we see here in the North East. 

“Vulnerable families need support and the Baby Box scheme is a wonderful example of practical initiatives that help families with newborns get off to a great start, with lots of essentials which promote bonding and early learning too. 

“The box itself provides an emergency safe sleep space, but the contents provide so much more to ensure a healthy and stimulating environment for newborn babies at home. I hope the scheme helps parents enjoy the first days and weeks with their little one.”

Sean Soulsby, CEO of The Children’s Foundation said. “The Baby Box is an essential project for the region which aims to give every first-time parent and their baby in the region and the best start possible. The project has been created by listening to parents, midwives, health visitors and experts on the 1001 critical days movement, to understand how important these early years are for shaping the rest of our lives. Boxes are now being delivered across Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland and Northumberland to get them into the hands of every first-time family in the region, and ultimately across England. 

“The Baby Box is a great way to support healthy baby development through simple everyday moments and we are already seeing the real-world impact that they are having. Infant mortality in the North East is higher than the national average. The Baby Box is a cost-effective scheme to help reduce inequalities in the North East and, in time, we hope that the scheme will be adopted across the whole of the UK. 

 “Positive experiences early in life are closely associated with better performance at school, good emotional development, improved work outcomes, and better lifelong health. Tackling these issues is vital to ensuring that every child in the region has the same opportunities in life. We continuously monitor the impact that our project is having in the region and feedback from health visitors suggests that the Baby Box provides a resource for engagement and trust building with families who are least likely to engage in services because of health inequalities, and it is fantastic to see more families engaging with services on the back of our campaign.”  

The Children’s Foundation has a target of raising £1 million to make sure every child in our region gets the support that they need to thrive. Businesses in the region are invited to ‘pay it forward’ by supporting the campaign as part of their festive community-giving campaigns. Businesses can also purchase a box for a colleague heading off on maternity or paternity, and a second box will be donated to a vulnerable family right here in the region. 

Individuals who would like to support the campaign and improve the health and well-being of children and young people in the North East can donate £3 by texting 'MAM to 70450.

 

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lauren Regan .