If you want to understand what 14 years of Conservative rule has done to this country, look no further than Baby Aid in Birmingham. Run out of an unused room in a church, the charity is the kind of service that – once a rarity – has become common in almost every town and city over the past decade, bleeding into community centres, mosques and village halls.

Like a food bank, Baby Aid fills in the cracks where the welfare state once stood. Referred by a support worker or midwife and delivered by a team of volunteers, parents of young children in crisis are given essentials: from clothes for toddlers to Moses baskets for newborns who have nowhere to sleep.

Born in 2020 in the early days of lockdown, the project was never meant to be long term – just a quick fix to help families in the city through the height of the pandemic. Except the demand never went away. In fact, it got worse. “The referrals just kept coming in,” David, who runs the project alongside being a Labour councillor, tells me.

Rising energy bills ramped up requests two years ago and they haven’t fallen since, he explains. “People had to pay the electric bill rather than buy a pram.” It means the charity is struggling financially: while need has increased, it must also find cash for running costs and rent.

When I speak to David, he is waiting for a couple of deliveries and pick-ups. Midwives are on their way to collect 10 parcels of formula milk, nappies and toys to take back to new mums in the city. “A midwife recently told me she’d be lost without [us] because there’s literally nowhere else to go,” David says. “For her, referring to the baby bank has become a regular part of her day.”

On average, the charity now helps 250 babies and toddlers a month. At Christmas, they hand out gifts to 200........

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