A child born during the festive season has become the 3000th in the region to receive a Baby Box.
North East charity ‘The Children’s Foundation’ celebrated boosting the start in life for 3,000 babies at Christmas, with first-day essentials, information and support in the form of a Baby Box.
A third of children in the North East live in poverty and these boxes are designed to level the playing field for all youngsters. Baby Boxes include developmentally rich toys, early learning materials, baby essentials and expert guidance to first-time parents.
The scheme has been backed by North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, since she came into office, she has expanded the initiative to benefit more families across the region and is becoming a cornerstone of her strategy to tackle child poverty.
The model combines financial relief with relationship-based support delivered through midwives, health visitors and community partners, easing the pressure on stretched public services and giving families the confidence, tools and knowledge to support their baby’s development from birth.
Sean Soulsby, CEO of The Children’s Foundation, said, “Reaching 3,000 Baby Boxes isn’t just a number, it represents real, individual families whose babies are now starting life with the essentials, the learning tools and the support every child deserves.”
What started as a local, community led initiative has benefitted from private sector collaboration with warehousing specialist Stiller bringing the Baby Box scheme to life.
Stiller now provide contract packing services to ready boxes for expecting families.
Thomas Prentice, Business Development Manager at Stiller, said: “When we first learned about the Baby Box project, we knew straight away it was something we wanted to support and the project has grown into something the whole Stiller team cares deeply about. We handle the logistics planning, from stock management to making sure each box leaves us safely and gets where it needs to be, when it needs to be there. It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes work we do every day as a business, but knowing it directly supports new parents makes it feel incredibly meaningful.
“Stiller has been part of the Northeast community for 71 years, and being able to use our contract packing facility and the expertise of our people to help get these boxes safely packed and delivered feels like a very real, hands-on way of giving back. Seeing the project reach 3,000 Baby Boxes is fantastic, and we’re proud to have played a part in making that happen. Knowing that every single one is heading to a family that will start their journey feeling a little more supported is a great feeling, especially at this time of year.”