Nursery brand, Ickle Bubba, has kicked off its volunteering commitment to the Baby Bank Alliance by spending the day with Heckmondwike’s Rainbow Baby Bank.
As part of the brand’s wider pledge to support families who need help, members of its Yorkshire-based marketing team visited the local baby bank to find out more about the vital work they do and learn how Ickle Bubba and the wider parenting community can help make a difference.
As part of its year-long partnership with the Baby Bank Alliance, Ickle Bubba have pledged to donate £15,000 worth of product and £10,000 worth of spare parts to help restore Ickle Bubba products donated by the public, enabling them to be passed onto families in need. It comes as UK deprivation hits a record high with more than 1 in 3 children living in poverty1 and referrals to baby banks up 54% since 20212, according to research undertaken by the Baby Bank Alliance – a number that’s expected to increase in response to the soaring cost of living3.
In addition, Ickle Bubba are rolling out a new workplace initiative which enables each colleague to use 1 working day to volunteer at a baby bank. Through this, they hope to give back to local communities and to raise awareness regionally of baby banks and the impact they have on families.
Leading on the partnership, Ickle Bubba Senior Partnership and PR Manager, Jenna Shorter, comments:
“We know shopping for baby can be expensive and overwhelming at times but when a family is in crisis, being able to buy even the essentials is not an option. We feel a responsibility as a nursery brand to do our bit in the way of donating product but also to raise awareness of the incredible work the Baby Bank Alliance do. With recent research showing that 71% of families are facing a more financially difficult winter4 , we hope to help make a difference by enabling our customers to join our pledge to donate products, time or money to their local baby bank.”
Adding to this, Samantha Cottam, of the Rainbow Baby Bank, explains:
“Being part of the Baby Bank Alliance is fantastic as it brings all of us baby banks together and helps raise awareness. From experience, everyone’s heard of a food bank but not so much a baby bank so it’s great to see nursery brands like Ickle Bubba helping spread the word and supporting our work too.”
Commenting further on items in demand, Sam explains, “Double buggies are like gold dust so we are always on the hunt for those. Generally, we are happy to receive baby clothes up to 24 months and essential equipment – all we stress is that these must be clean and in a safe and working condition. We also welcome brand new toiletries for baby and mum.”
To find out more about how you can access or support your local baby bank, visit www.icklebubba.com/pages/babybankalliance.
