Image: Istock
Introducing PramDepot
PramDepot is an arts-led recycling project providing baby boxes filled with high-quality, second-hand baby clothes and equipment to vulnerable new mothers
HEALTH, CARE & SUPPORT
Oonagh Ryder
Operations Manager, PramDepot
Oonagh Ryder
Operations Manager, PramDepot
Issue 73 | September 2024
PramDepot started as an art exhibition, set up by participatory artist Karen Whiteread in 2013. Filling a room with second-hand baby items donated by the local community, Karen invited people to bring what they didn’t need and take what they, or someone they knew, did need.
This living exhibition evoked an emotional response, inviting participants to reflect on the contradictions inherent in an over-consuming society, in which waste and deprivation exist side-by-side. The beautifully arranged shelves of colourful clothes and toys also communicated the joy of early parenthood, something that all parents should have access to regardless of their circumstances.
Karen worked closely with organisations supporting vulnerable women, involving the women these organisations supported, to develop this exhibition into an ongoing project, focusing on distributing good quality second-hand items to vulnerable mums who needed them. With a lot of support from volunteers and our local community, PramDepot grew into a sustainable organisation.
Image: PramDepot
The Baby Box and beyond
Today, the organisation remains small, although we deliver items across London. We have moved from ad hoc provision of items to providing all the items a new mother will need via a Baby Box.
Based on the Finnish baby box scheme, this box contains all the essentials, such as a steriliser, breast pump, sling, clothes, nappies, wet wipes, toiletries and more. Once it is unpacked, the specially-designed box can be used along with the mattress and sheets provided as a safe place for the baby to sleep.
In addition to this core work, we also provide prams to pregnant women or new mums living in Haringey and collect thousands of donations of other items, such as highchairs, cots and clothes for older babies and children, which we pass on to a larger baby bank for distribution to struggling families.
More than 80% of the women supported by PramDepot are asylum seekers or have irregular migration status
“Once it is unpacked, the specially-designed box can be used along with the mattress and sheets provided as a safe place for the baby to sleep.”
Supporting very vulnerable women
PramDepot focuses on those with the least access to support elsewhere. More than 80% of the women we support are asylum seekers or have irregular migration status, meaning they are barred from accessing government support such as the maternity grant or housing benefit.
We also support women who are fleeing domestic violence or who have recently left prison. Most of the women we support are destitute and have no way to access any essential items to care for their new baby.
In 2017, the Scottish government introduced a government baby box scheme. This means that all parents of a new baby in Scotland, regardless of immigration status, receive a baby box with essential baby items.
We hope that one day all mums in the UK will be provided with everything they need through a government-funded baby box programme. But until that day, PramDepot will be here.
PramDepot founder Karen Whiteread
