About us

OUR STORY

How Mama to Mama
was born

Mama to Mama started as a call to action by a local mother, to provide essential newborn baby items to vulnerable families living in poverty, through preloved donations. Growing to meet the increased demand due to the cost of living crisis, Mama to Mama now supports children up to 5 years old.

Mama to Mama is the first and only baby bank service in Thanet, Kent.

With no other resources available for these individuals, Mama to Mama enables maternity, social and care workers to make referrals for care packages, which in turn helps them to build relationships and trust from the people they support.

OUR VISION

Our vision is that every newborn baby and child under 5 in Thanet, has the best start in life

We want ALL parents and caregivers to have access to the items and resources they need for a healthy and happy beginning for their family. By reducing financial anxieties and offering support, we want to reduce the risk of socio economic disadvantages to the child.

By taking away financial anxiety we hope to reduce the risk of postnatal mental health issues and potential negative impact on the foetus.

Mama to Mama also exists to contribute to a greener planet, by reducing the amount of children’s items going to landfill each year and encouraging circular living within our community.

OUR MISSION

Mama to Mama’s mission
is upheld by three main pillars:

Best start in life

To ensure vulnerable babies and children under 5 have the essentials they need

Empowering caregivers

To empower every caregiver with hope and confidence, through support and understanding

Sustainability

To champion circular-living by rehoming high-quality preloved items and diverting from landfill

"Thanet has a very high level of deprivation and in the middle of a cost of living crisis, we are more and more reliant on our voluntary sector to provide support to our community. Mama to Mama is well integrated with local Social Services ensuring that mothers in need of additional support can get access to baby bank provision and the much needed support they need during this vital time in their lives. I fully support the organisation and collectively the Margate Charter Trustees and I agreed to award them with a Margate Mayor's community award in 2023 for their work in the community."

— Cllr Rob Yates, Mayor of Margate

Our Supporters

We would like to thank all of our supporters, without your generous donations Mama to Mama wouldn’t exist.

Become a partner

Meet our trustees

Hayley Corker

CHAIR
Hayley is an experienced grant-maker with The Lawson Trust, a place-based funder rooted in Kent, funding organisations that benefit the communities of Kent and Sussex. Hayley has a background in not-for-profit operations including programme reporting, database oversight and financial reporting for organisations such as Farm Africa and The Church of England. Hayley also has extensive experience delivering services for organisations that support homeless and refugee communities.
Hayley is passionate about the charity sector and what it can achieve for society from supporting people to achieve small but meaningful changes in their lives to driving big change in public policy.
Hayley brings her knowledge of supporting vulnerable groups and her experience working with trusts and foundations to her role as a trustee for Mama to Mama.
Eilidh Macpherson

SECRETARY
Eilidh is a feminist, campaigner and mum of two. Professionally she has wide experience from working across international development, disability, conflict and climate justice, and has worked in China, the USA and across West Africa.
She currently heads Amnesty International UK's Individuals at Risk programme - working with and for people impacted by Human Rights violations around the world.
Eilidh enjoys getting to know her new home of Ramsgate - exploring Thanet and its beaches with her kids, year round swims and recovering with coffee and a pastry, (always up for debating the best bakery options locally).
Mars Lord

TRUSTEE
Mars is a highly sought-after life coach and birth activist, renowned for her expertise as a triple award-winning doula, mentor, educator, and coach. She is a member of the Race Equality Taskforce at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and also serves on the Birthrights Legal inquiry into Black Maternal Health panel. With over two decades of experience, Mars has earned a reputation as a leading voice in the Black Maternal Health crisis, and is frequently invited to speak and train both in the UK and worldwide.
Mars is the founder of Abuela Doulas, a doula preparation course designed primarily for Black and Brown individuals, though it is open to all. Additionally, she is the creator of the BLA (Black Lives Abuela) Scholarship, which aims to provide financial support to Black women who aspire to become doulas, but may face socio-economic barriers to training.

Meet our founder
and CEO

Jayne Furniss

Jayne moved to Margate from London in 2020, with a deep passion for connecting people and making a difference in her community.

A qualified Interior Architect, Jayne has worked for a variety of award winning design agencies before setting up her own company, Furniss & May in 2013. Jayne has always worked closely within her own community and set up The Collective Market in London, curating pop-up markets with over 30 independent designer / makers.

Jayne is a big thinker and thrives in creating better environments for people, whilst challenging the status quo and pushing for positive change. She founded Mama to Mama in 2021 as a mother of two herself and after witnessing first hand the disproportionally high rate of child poverty in Thanet.