Released on: 17 June 2025
- Chichester MP Jess Brown-Fuller, NCT Chief Executive Angela McConville and local NCT Volunteers appeal for local organisations to support the Chichester and Arun baby bank as needs soar
- Visit comes as Baby Bank Alliance publishes data that Baby banks in the Southeast of England have supported over 60,000 children and over 30,000 families in 2024*
On Saturday14th June 2025, Chichester MP Jess Brown-Fuller and National Childbirth Trust (NCT) Chief Executive Angela McConville visited the NCT baby bank “Little Bundles” in Chichester, which supports more than 650 families in Littlehampton, Bognor Regis, and Chichester every year.
Little Bundles is a baby bank service provided by the West Sussex Coastal branch of the NCT and is the only baby bank that covers the Chichester and Arun area. The baby bank helps local parents and families who are unable to buy essentials for their young children by working on a referral scheme through professional partners. Through donations from partner organisations, Little Bundles provides preloved and new items for parents and their young children.
The baby bank receives around 25 referrals each week. Volunteer Alice Duckworth said: “Due to the cost-of-living crisis, our referrals have gone up probably around 20-25%. This also had a big impact on the amount of donations we receive, which have recently gone down. Despite these challenges, what keeps us driving is knowing that we help local families in need. Occasionally, we get a thank you email or a photo – as we don’t deal with families directly. We supported around 50 refugee families who had relocated. We really had to go above and beyond for this. But we then received some photos of a little girl with a doll we had given her, that was very special!”
650 families and 550 children are supported by Little Bundles every year. In 2024 alone, they have given out over 28,000 nappies, over 800 books and 900 toys, almost 600 clothing bundles, 22 highchairs, 250 blankets, and many more items. Little Bundles also works closely with local hospitals, providing them with smaller bags of essential items for labour wards, bags of premature baby items for families using the neonatal care facilities, and baby loss packs to A&E departments which provide items to support women experiencing miscarriage.
Volunteer Alice Duckworth, who lives near Arundel, works alongside 20 other volunteers to provide baby bundles for families in the area. The volunteers work through donations and then deliver the prepared bundles back to the referring partner for collection. The baby bank supports intergenerational volunteering, with three generations of families helping to run and manage the work of the baby bank. Alice said: “The team of volunteers we have is incredible. It is such an enjoyable time when we come together; we all know each other really well and have been through a lot together, including operating during the Covid-19 pandemic. I think it is because we do something so important together as a group, it creates a special bond.”
The work of baby banks such as NCT Little Bundles is crucial. According to data from a recent report from the Baby Bank Alliance revealed that 4.5 million children in the UK are living in relative poverty after housing costs, that's 31% of all children.** Baby banks in the Southeast of England have supported over 60,000 children and over 30,000 families in 2024.*
MP for Chichester, Jess Brown-Fuller, and NCT CEO visited Little Bundles last Saturday to meet the team of volunteers and learn more about the crucial service.
MP for Chichester, Jess Brown-Fuller said: “It was a pleasure to meet the incredible volunteers at Little Bundles Baby Bank, who do such remarkable work for the local community. Their selfless commitment to supporting hundreds of new parents across Chichester was truly inspiring. The horrendous reality of the rising cost of living is that many new parents cannot afford to provide the essential items needed for a healthy start in life. The work that Little Bundles and the NCT do has, unfortunately, never been more vital. I would like to encourage any local business or individual who feels able to support the work of Little Bundles to reach out to them.”
NCT Chief Executive, Angela McConville, said: “Little Bundles in West Sussex is NCT's biggest baby bank. Thanks to local volunteers like Alice, hundreds of pregnant women, new babies and families are provided with the essentials needed to start life with a new baby. Baby banks like this provide crucial, practical support for parents who need it. The rising cost of living is making these services more important than ever. NCT wants to make sure that every parent is supported, especially when dealing with hardship. I want to thank all the amazing volunteers, like Alice, whose passion and energy does not only support over 650 families every year but also creates a wonderful community of volunteers.”
Little Bundles is seeking to develop more partnerships with local businesses that could support them with regular items that they currently have to spend funds on, such as moses basket mattresses, underwear, socks, and toiletries, as well as donations of items which they struggle to secure donations from the public, such as IKEA highchairs, changing mats and baby towels. Volunteer Alice said: “We would love to be the charity partner for a local school or business. Together, we could create meaningful change for families in Chichester and Arun.”
Schools or local businesses, who are interested in partnering with or supporting Little Bundles, please contact branch.westsussexcoastal@nct.org.uk
ENDS.
Sources: * Baby Bank Alliance Annual Impact and Membership Survey 2024
** Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), released 27 March 2025, GOV.UK website, statistical release, Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2024.
