Prams, car seats, children’s clothes and cots rest quietly waiting to go to their future home inside the Lakes Vineyard Church which is home to Enniskillen Food Bank.

Grow Baby which offers items for babies and young children in “busier than ever” according to John Shades, the food bank manager.

There is a demand for items such as clothing, prams, high chairs, car seats, cots, Moses baskets, and other baby equipment. All of the items are pre-loved and will help a family in need.

He and his volunteers have noted an increase in the demand for items revealing that sometimes people who have nothing for their babies are seeking support in items.

He explained: “We give away everything from wipes right up to prams, buggies and cots and stuff like that. People will see us on Facebook and say they have just had a baby or they are expecting a baby and can they come in and see us.

He noted that the service is self-referral but already takes referrals from agencies.  Mr. Shades explained:”The rest of the people who come to Grow Baby could be health visitors, social services, or charities like Home Start Lakeland and places like that.

“Often they will come and take the products for their clients.”  He noted that are full of stock with a large number of children’s clothes among their stock and are now at the point where they cannot take any more donations for Grow Baby.

He said: “We have more buggies and prams than we ever had, we have so much of them that we can’t take anymore at the minute, we have a lot of children’s clothes but we have been giving away more of that stuff than we have ever done.”

He shared the story of one young mother who visited the service and how her face lit-up when she received a 3-in-1 travel system set. 

Mr. Shades added: “We had someone come in recently and they had just had a baby and they had nothing, nothing.

“Earlier in the week this pram came in and it was one of those 3-in-1 sets and it was a Silver Cross one. This lassie took it and you should have seen her face, it was unreal.”

He notes that service users of Grow Baby come from across the community and there is “small” crossover between users of the Food Bank and Grow Baby.

The food bank itself is still in need of donations as they face the demand in the colder month in the lead-up to Christmas.