“The lowest point of my life was when a cockroach fell onto my baby daughter’s arm while I was feeding her in our flat.” Faiza recalled. “She screamed and I had to smack it off her.”
The 26-year-old single mother was rehoused due to the cockroach infestation and put into a hotel in Willesden with just one double bed for herself and her three children – a new born and two under three years old. There was only a shower so nowhere to bathe her children and the other rooms in the hotel were filled with single people, many smoking drugs and playing loud music through the night.
That was when Basch Helps stepped in. The community enterprise runs an Angel Box scheme which delivers a box full of baby essentials to new mothers as well as mental health support. Demand for the scheme has rocketed as Londoners struggle under the burden of the cost-of-living crisis.
For Faiza (not her real name), Basch Helps made a massive difference. “I was overwhelmed by what was in the box. They gave me a travel cot so my baby could sleep separately and a bath that I could use for my daughters. They kept checking on me and gave me nappies, wipes and formula – all things I couldn’t afford.”
Money raised through our On the Breadline Christmas Appeal, a joint campaign with our sister title the Evening Standard and in partnership with Comic Relief, will help keep projects such as Angel Box running.
Since the cost-of-living crisis, there has been an increase in middle income families needing the Angel Box service, added Bader Berjaoui, head of the Angel Box scheme. “We are supporting hundreds of families and it is becoming relentless. With mortgage interest rate rises, we are getting more applications from middle income families. We have teachers, nurses and midwives applying for an angel box.”
Mr Berjaoui helps deliver the boxes to those in need. Among those that stick in his mind are: a one-year-old boy being treated for leukaemia who returns from hospital to shared accommodation and little food; an Albanian woman trafficked to the UK into the sex industry who has no access to public funds; and a working midwife who earns so little she can barely afford nappies for her own baby.
For each of the struggling families, the angel box is a lifeline. It contains more than 65 essential baby items, including nappies, wipes, clothes, sponges, towels and blankets. Mothers can request particular items such as formula milk or a breast pump. As their babies grow, parents can request high chairs, cots and pushchairs. Everything is new and delivered within 72 hours.
“Our applicants are mainly young parents, lone parents, asylum seekers, victims of domestic abuse or human trafficking, facing homelessness or post-partum psychosis sufferers.” Mr Berjaoui said. “Most don’t have any income. We are looking at a disposable income of between £8 and £36 a week.”
Unlike baby banks, the items are ordered specifically for each baby and are new. He added: “We will always give them the right sized nappy or the particular formula the baby is used to. This has a positive impact on the mental wellbeing of the mother, knowing they have secured those essentials.”
The service can change people’s lives. Ayesha (not her real name) was left traumatised after being cut off by her family after having a baby out of wedlock, but is now one of the organisation’s success stories. She was housed in a hotel in London, away from her home city, with no friends or support network, because she had been threatened with violence by her family.
When Mr Berjaoui first met her when delivering her an angel box, she was in the depths of depression. “We knocked on the door of her hotel room on her first day in London,” he said. “We could hear a baby cooing, but Ayesha was sitting on the bed staring at the wall. You could see she had been crying and had not slept for days. She was completely in despair at her situation. Our team dropped everything and stayed with Ayesha. You cannot leave a parent in that kind of distress.”
With the help of the Basch Helps team, Ayesha slowly got back on her feet and is now living in a flat with her son, who is thriving. “We sat and listened to her story. We made a cup of tea and held the baby. It was the first one-to-one conversation she’d had in months.” Mr Berjaoui added: “We are not just delivering emergency relief for children, we are there to look after the parent as well.”
Our Christmas appeal in a nutshell
What is happening?
We have partnered with Comic Relief to launch On the Breadline, our cost of living Christmas appeal.
Where will the money go?
To organisations in London and across the UK working to help people on the breadline cope with the cost of living crisis.
How can you help?
To help children and communities most impacted by the cost of living crisis, donate here.
