Up to 40,000 Children in Ealing and Hillingdon to Benefit from Baby Banks Proposal, Highlights Assembly Member Bassam Mahfouz

Thousands of children in Ealing and Hillington stand to benefit from new “baby banks” funded by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The initiative will address the stark healty and inequalities faced by children by providing families with essentials like nappies, toiletries, bedding and feeding equipment.

Assembly Member Mahfouz has welcomed the programme, which will support thousands of children in Ealing and Hillingdon when it is complete.

There are 40,000 children in Ealing and Hillingdon who stand to benefit from the Baby Banks initiative. There are currently over 21,000 children under five in Ealing and over 20,000 in Hillingdon. Of these children, around 13,000 are living in poverty.

Mr Mahfouz has joined Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at a visit to The Felix Project in Ealing, where a pilot "multi bank” scheme is being run. Similar to a baby bank, the project includes a broader selection of goods, such as kitchen essentials. Recently launched by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, their warehouse provides family basics to community partners across north and west London, including the boroughs of Ealing and Hillingdon. By providing essential goods to local food banks, vulnerable members of those communities can also access them in locations close to home.

Assembly Member Mahfouz recently met with representatives from Home-Start London and Home-Start Hillingdon to hear from staff, volunteers and families about the huge impact of their work in changing the trajectory of parenting for struggling, vulnerable families.

Assembly Member Mahfouz has thanked Home-Start and The Felix Project for their work, saying that the needs of families across London have worsened during the cost-of-living crisis. He has said that greater investment in baby banks across Ealing and Hillingdon will help close the gaps in health inequalities and reduce the impact of the previous Government’s cost of living crisis across the capital.

During his debut appearance at Mayor’s Question Time, Bassam Mahfouz, Assembly Member for Ealing & Hillingdon, brought attention to the significant health disparities affecting children in different wards of Hillingdon. Two children who were both born at Hillingdon Hospital, but with one going home to Ickenham and the other to Harefield, would face drastically different life expectancies.

Watch the clip here: https://x.com/BassamMahfouz/status/1793665364548874556.

Bassam Mahfouz, Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon, said:

“Over the past 14 years we have seen thousands of children falling into poverty – with families skipping meals, dreading their next bill or going without basic goods.

“Baby banks will help change that for thousands of London’s children. Thank you to organisations like Home-Start and The Felix Project who have done so much for our area - I know that Sadiq Khan’s baby banks will add to these efforts, making a huge difference to parents across our area.”

Clare Nazerali, the Director of Home-Start Hillingdon, said: 

“The importance of the first 1001 days of a child’s life is at the heart of Home-Start’s approach. The impact of a positive start on life outcomes for children as they grow, cannot be underestimated. Our recent 1001 Days Manifesto asks to, ‘tackle health inequalities so that all babies have a good start to life’ so seeing Bassam highlight this issue at City Hall is a very welcome move.”