MAYOR’S BEDS FOR BABIES SCHEME HELPS OVER 1,900 CHILDREN IN FIRST YEAR

Published 24 June 2025 at 9:00am

A year after its launch, South Yorkshire’s pioneering Beds for Babies scheme has supported over 1,900 children, ensuring that children aged five and under have a safe place to sleep. 

The initiative, led by South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard, has delivered more than 3,800 essential items – including Moses Baskets, cots, toddler beds, mattresses, and bedding bundles - to families across the region.  

Backed by a £2.2 million investment from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), the scheme is designed to tackle health inequalities, improve early-years development, and ease pressure on public services, with the ultimate goal of making South Yorkshire the healthiest region in the country. 

Beds for Babies tackles the often-hidden issue of bed poverty, which can include broken or unsuitable beds, mouldy mattresses, or the complete absence of age-appropriate sleeping arrangements. By addressing these challenges, the scheme aims to improve sleep quality, which is vital for children’s development, learning, and overall family wellbeing. 

Beds for Babies: a Safe Space to Sleep is a cornerstone of Mayor Coppard’s health strategy, focused on practical, community-led solutions to long-standing challenges. 

South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “When I launched Beds for Babies, I made it my ambition that no child in South Yorkshire should go without a safe place to sleep. One year on, I’m proud that, working with a range of dedicated partners, we’re delivering on that ambition - supporting over 1,900 children and giving out more than 3,800 essential items. 

“The scheme is about more than just beds. It’s about giving every child the best possible start in life, tackling deep-rooted health inequalities, and building a healthier, fairer South Yorkshire for everyone.” 

Beds for Babies is delivered through trusted local referral routes, including midwifery services, GPs, Family Hubs, Children’s Centres, and community organisations. It is the result of a collaborative effort involving Baby Basics UK, Save the Children UK, Sheffield Hallam University, IKEA, and many others. 

The first bed funded through the scheme was delivered in June 2024 by Mayor Coppard and Baby Basics UK to a Sheffield mother for her 11-week-old daughter, Majesty. 

As part of the broader Safe Space to Sleep Programme, working with councils and key partners, two ‘test and learn’ pilots have been launched in the last year in Mexborough (Doncaster) and Swinton (Rotherham), with Sheffield and Barnsley to follow, to explore new ways of working with disadvantaged families. These pilots aim to build trust, improve access to services, and identify best practices for improving children’s health outcomes. 

Cat Ross, CEO of Baby Basics UK said: “One year on from launching deliveries through our Beds for Babies: a Safe Space to Sleep project, we're incredibly proud of the real and lasting difference it's making for families across South Yorkshire. At Baby Basics, we strive to uphold the dignity of every family we work with. This project reflects that by providing children 0-5 with brand-new mattresses, age-appropriate bedding and high-quality beds. We've built in flexibility too, offering bed guards, bespoke mattresses and bunk beds to meet specific needs.   

“Our Baby Basics centres in South Yorkshire, along with Families First Rotherham, work faithfully to manage referrals and allocate equipment. Families are now receiving essential equipment within two weeks of referral, replacing what used to be months-long waits. This offer continues to be transformative at every level. For children aged 0-5, having a safe space to sleep directly supports their safety, wellbeing and healthy development. For parents and carers, it removes the burden of sourcing essential items in times of hardship and provides peace of mind. For referral partners, the guarantee of a bed builds trust with families and creates opportunities to address other challenges.  

“This project would not succeed without the work of our referral partners, whose dedication ensures families access this vital support. Thank you to Oliver for his commitment to highlighting child poverty in South Yorkshire and beyond. We are grateful for his hands-on involvement, which has even included safety checking donated cots! Thanks also to the wider SYMCA team for their continued partnership and belief in the Beds for Babies: a Safe Space to Sleep project. We look forward to building on this success and reaching more families in need.” 

Click here for more information about the Mayor’s Beds for Babies project.