Who we are
MammaKind is a baby bank providing clothes, toys, baby equipment, essential hygiene items and baby food to families in poverty in the south-east London boroughs of Bromley, Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.
The majority of the families we support are headed by a single mother and many face additional disadvantages, such as disability or having experienced violence, and have no recourse to public funds. The removal of the benefit uplift, refugee crisis and cost-of-living crisis has created even more demand for our help.
Together with our network of referral partners, which include children’s centres, midwives, charities, food banks and community referrers, we identify those who need help and ensure they receive a tailored package of supplies. Removing the immediate fear about where the next nappy is coming from gives mum ‘space for action’ so she can think about her next steps.
We only provide clothing and items we would be happy for our own little ones to use and firmly believe they should not only relieve the financial pressure for mum but should support her mental health and wellbeing, and uphold her dignity.
Our amazing team of volunteers from the wider community sort donations at our two warehouses in Lewisham and Greenwich and deliver our service with kindness and love. We partner closely with Greenwich Foodbank Limited and the Salvation Army in Lewisham on warehousing, logistics and service provision. Our partners tell us the care with which we choose, package and tailor the items we provide to families is second to none.
While we have been able to make the lives of so many local families better, there is still a glaring gap in provision for families with children to the age of 17. One day, we would like to become a kids bank. And your support will help us do it! Please see our donate and volunteer pages to get involved.
Our history
The idea to set up the MammaKind baby bank came out of a coffee morning for new mums hosted by our chair Kirsty Lowe in 2019. This group of mums decided to take action after seeing the huge financial pressures associated with caring for young children and the significant waste of clothes and other baby items that could be rehomed.
Our core co-founders Kirsty, Kelly and Katie consulted with a wide range of local service providers, including NHS health professionals, children’s centres, women and mother-focused charities, food banks, local councillors and other baby banks. They discovered there was resounding demand for a local baby bank but no equivalent service covering the Boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham. Early planning meetings were held around Kirsty’s dining table and the idea soon grew into a fully-fledged charity supporting struggling families with babies and toddlers.
Following a hugely successful first year as a charity and, thanks to funding from London Catalyst and People’s Postcode Lottery as well as a partnership with the Salvation Army in Lewisham, we were able to secure a new warehouse in April 2021. This helped streamline our processes, increase capacity and crucially increase the age range of children we can support from birth to five years old.
We also partnered with Little Village and the British Red Cross to create emergency welcome packs for newly arriving Afghan refugees and provided goodie bags for vulnerable teen mums for a project run by midwives, which had a significant impact on the mental health and self-esteem of those who received them.
In September 2021, our co-founder Kelly Fort was appointed as head of operations and our second employee, Paula Murtagh, joined as hub manager in Lewisham in November 2022.
Management team
Kirsty Lowe
Chair
Kirsty worked for large corporations and PR agencies for over ten years before changing career and reading an MA in Violence Against Women. She then worked for charities involved in ending gender-based violence including co-facilitating a perpetrator behavior change programme and providing support to women who had experienced sexual violence. After taking a career break to have her own daughter, Kirsty saw a gap in the local provision for mums of young children and had the idea to start a baby bank for south-east London.
Kelly Fort
Head of Operations
Kelly spent 15 years providing senior business support in the private sector before moving into the charitable sector in 2017, assisting the board at Housing for Women. She volunteered with Crisis women’s shelter and Convoy to Calais, aiding refugee families and children, before co-founding MammaKind in 2019. Kelly has been pivotal in getting MammaKind to where it is today and became our first employee as Head of Operations in 2021. She lives in south-east London with her husband and two young children.
Katie Allen East
Trustee
Katie has worked for international organisations in the non-profit sector, particularly focusing on women affected by conflict. She has experience of grant and programme management, governance, compliance and many aspects of fundraising, having led fundraising for small and large organisations. She was present at our earliest meetings and is passionate about supporting her local community.
Juliet Campbell
Trustee
Councillor and cabinet member in the borough of Lewisham for communities, refugees and well being, Juliet comes with a wealth of experience of over 30 years working with the NHS, local government and community services on issues of fairness, diversity and inclusion.
Jeremy Lowe
Trustee
A qualified chartered accountant (ICAEW) and insolvency practitioner (JIEB), Jeremy spent 10 years working with KPMG in London in their restructuring practice, followed by 15 years in the regulated investment management industry. In 2011, Jeremy became a Managing Director at one of the 20 largest global hedge funds. In 2023, he became a part-time financial/investment consultant.
You can find our latest report and accounts here. To get in touch, see our contact us page.