Sophie Livingstone, left, and Little Village sort through donations

SOME struggling families are restricting babies to one nappy a day because they can’t afford to buy any more according to the head of a “baby bank” with a centre in Somers Town.

Sophie Livingstone, who is chief executive of Little Village, said she feared for the future of families and the severity of stories was “ratchet­ing up”, as well as referral numbers increasing.

The charity provides supplies for babies including nappies, clothes, cots, buggies and other essentials. It has six centres across London, and one of them saw 67 referrals to it in one day alone. It is having to ration those it can help because of its own capacity.

Ms Livingstone said: “We’ve seen the increase in referrals and a vast upswing in grim situations and horrible circumstances. It’s babies in one nappy a day and babies getting sores because they’ve been kept in one nappy.

“We started to see it in the summer, but we had people getting in touch last winter who were already struggling when bills started to increase. Many families are finding that their money still isn’t enough to make do.

“We’ve heard about people sitting in the dark, sharing one bath a week, a family of four including a newborn sharing a bed, partly because there are no other beds but partly to keep warm. There’s massive danger there with a newborn too.”

It has started to run an advice and guidance service for families. It accepts referrals from professional and voluntary groups that work with families, but doesn’t accept self-referrals.

Ms Livingstone said: “One of the things we really offer is solidarity. We listen, we don’t judge them, we talk to them about their fears. They very often say that is just as important – just the chance to be heard. It’s a really worrying place to be, and a very shaming place to be. If you can’t provide for your child, they feel like they are failing as a parent when it is just not their fault.

“It is not enough to work any more. There’s all this thing about working families, working people, but working isn’t paying enough. The safety net has got so many holes in it’s not even a safety net any more.”

Donations of bigger items, toddler beds, cots and buggies have declined, and Ms Livingstone believes it’s because families could now be selling the items as they need to recoup the some of the cost, rather than being able to donate. It has faced its own rising costs, and planning is under way for its budget next year. She believes its own energy bills will rise by four times. One family were referred on to a food bank, but could not afford the bus fare to get there.

Ms Livingstone said: “I don’t know what’s in store for families. It’s going to be hand-to-mouth, destitution for a lot of people. I can’t see how that improves. “It’s really upsetting. In the midst of the day-to-day you can just keep going. But you take a step back and it’s just a tsunami that is absolutely horrendous and I’m not sure how this country has ended up in this position.”