Cornerstone Baby Bank
A baby bank is like a food bank but for baby essentials. Our local community donates new and lightly used baby goods and we pass them on to local families in need.
Who are we?
Cornerstone Baby Bank was set up by a group of local parents in 2020 in response to the need they saw in their community. Last year we supported over 150 local families.
Chrissie and Helen run the Baby Bank and the Parent and Baby Group with support from many others, including our fabulous volunteers.
How we can help you
We can provide baby essentials to newborns and children up to the age of 3 (2-3 years is the largest size of clothing).
We can support families in the following postcodes: E10, E11, E12, E15, E17. If you need to find a baby bank in another area this UK Baby Bank Map may help.
If you know anyone in need or if you would benefit from some baby items, please complete the referral form below. Please make a note on the referral form of any urgent needs.
How you can help
Donate baby essentials - What we can accept varies week to week depending on demand and current stock. Please contact us to arrange a time to donate and check that we can accept the items. It really helps us if we don't receive donations we can't use as it takes time for us to sort and dispose of items we don't give out. Please check the guidance below for items we can’t accept and how to make sure things are in good enough condition.
Donate via our
Volunteer - If you would like to join our amazing volunteers, we have flexible volunteering opportunities - sorting donations, delivering, etc. Please contact us if you are interested.
Please email us babybank@thecornerstone.org.uk or text/Whatsapp 07354 489865. Please note - we work part-time and may not be able to answer immediately. We will respond to you as soon as we can.
Donation Guidance
Quality matters - Imagine giving this item to a loved one. Is it clean, safe, and in good condition? Items we can’t use cost us valuable resources as we have to dispose of them, so we kindly ask for donations that are ready for a second life.
Can’t Take List
There are some items we can't accept due to safety regulations or limited storage space.
We follow the advice of the Lullaby Trust about safe sleeping for babies. If you'd like to find out more about whether certain items are safe for babies, you can visit www.lullabytrust.org.uk.
Car seats - The official advice is not to provide second-hand car seats because they may have become damaged and may be dangerous for children. So we don't accept car seats.
Stained clothing - We don't give out stained, ripped, marked clothing or clothes with missing buttons or broken zips. If these are donated we have to use valuable resources sorting them and then disposing of them. Please help us by sorting your items before you donate.
Open toiletries - We love to give out toiletries to our families. Donations of everyday toiletry essentials are so important to families. Any unwanted gifts of toiletries are welcome as long as they are unopened.
Large toys - We don't take large toys like jumperoos, play kitchens or doll houses. Most families we work with don't have space for these.
Damaged toys or toys with batteries - Jigsaws with missing pieces, games without all their parts and broken toys all cause disappointment and we don't give them out. We don't give out dirty, marked or stained toys. Please sort your donations - and wash them if they need it - so that we don't have to simply throw things away when they come to us.
Cot accessories - We don't accept cot bumpers or 'sleepy heads' for safety reasons.
Reusable nappies nappy bins - Though we love reusable nappies, many of our families do not have facilities to wash and manage them.
Furniture - We don't take any furniture, including changing tables and children's furniture. We simply don't have space to keep any furniture or the capacity to organise delivery to family.
Winners of the Cost of Living Award 2023
