Mayor expands 'baby bundle' scheme to 10,000 per year

Greater Manchester's new mayor Bev Craig has announced a policy to make 10,000 "baby bundles" available to new parents every year.

The bundles, which are contained inside a Moses basket designed for safe sleeping, include a mattress, baby clothes, soft toys, books and toiletries.

About 1,500 of the bundles are currently distributed to new parents in Greater Manchester each year, but the mayor has announced an expansion to the scheme in one of her first policy announcements.

The 41-year-old has succeeded Andy Burnham in the role after she won last week's by-election.

Craig said the expansion was designed to end a "post code lottery'" across the region, and that she wanted "everyone in need to be able to get one".

Speaking during a visit to Leigh Family Hub, she said: "Not everybody gets to experience the joy of going out and buying a cot and all the beautiful things that you get when a baby is on the way."

The mayor said "it's about a helping hand, not a give-away" and "it's saying to mums and dads at the moment their life changes with a new baby that there's support on hand".

She added: "If we don't get those first 1,000 days right of a young child's life then too often the statistics say their life chances have already been determined.

"Let's get in early, offer support for mums and dads and get that young baby off to the best start, and that will reap dividends during the course of their life, in school, in college and in their place of work."

Elsie Wakefield, who runs a baby bank in Leigh, donating items to parents, said: "Some families are in very difficult situations" and don't always have the essential items that they need."

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