Remarkable response to plea for donations from Banbury business owner

During National Baby Swimming Week, (October 14-20) Banbury’s Water Babies asked parents of the children who swim with them at Frank Wise and Sibford schools, to donate baby essentials such as nappies and clothes.

Donations could be taken to the weekly swimming lessons, to be passed on to Northampton-based charity Baby Basics, which provides baby essentials to parents in times of need or financial difficulty.

Tamsin Brewis has owned Water Babies in Banbury since 2004 and couldn’t quite envisage how incredible the response would be with the Water Babies office rapidly filling with donations.

Tamsin said: “Our team of teachers just kept filling bag after bag, which all eventually made their way to our office in Banbury.

“The parents who swim with us are always so supportive of the charity work we do and it’s incredible to see just how generous people can be.

“We supported Baby Basics during baby swimming week because they truly deserve the support and the recognition for the work that they do. If our donations can change the lives of just one new-born, then we’ve done a good job.”

The bags of donated items will benefit numerous disadvantaged families.

Baby Basics builds and packages a Moses basket of clothing, toiletries and essential baby equipment, which is then delivered to new mothers following birth.

The charitable organisation works closely with midwives and health visitors to ensure people who most deserve the support are given it.

Tamsin said: “We promote the rewards of one-on-one time with your child and we teach what we believe to be an essential life skill. Unfortunately, some new parents aren’t always in the position to be able to offer this to their little ones and we feel so lucky to be able to support people in this position.

“Thank you to all of our wonderful parents and to those who donated. You’ve really made a difference.”