Since 1956, NCT’s ambition has been to ensure that all parents-to-be and new parents feel supported, informed and confident. Our vision is of a world in which no parent is isolated and all parents are supported to build a stronger society.

By donating to our JustGiving page, you will be aiding both the national efforts of NCT and the local efforts of the Redbridge and District NCT team in providing support, advice and friendship to new mums and dads and mums-and-dads-to-be at one of the most vulnerable times in their parenting journey. Last year we successfully raised over £700 to help support local parents and £1,850 to help fund NCT’s work nationally, offering impartial information and support to parents through the NCT website and helpline and campaigning to ensure better services and facilities for parents in their First 1,000 Days.

At our core we are a movement of parents supporting parents.

Redbridge and District NCT committee consists of 9 local mums and an army of volunteers, each battling through those first 1000. We’ve run everything we could manage, from pregnancy to preschool: Bumps evening socials, New babies at home socials, Bumps and new mums whatsapp groups, first aid sessions, buggy walks, coffee morning socials, Nearly New Sales, Back to Work events and Baby Bundles…no wonder we’re exhausted…

We didn’t plan on stopping there.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has put a stop to the majority of our 2020 face-to-face activity so far. With 1 in 10 charities across the UK fearing that they will have to stop operating altogether within the next 6 months, we have never been so needed. Research shows that, prior to the crisis, between 10-20% of women experienced mental health problems in the perinatal period and 25,000 babies in England live in households where their parent or parents are already struggling with at least two significant issues - parental mental illness, domestic abuse and/or substance misuse. These problems are escalating during the COVID-19 crisis as a result of the range of stresses facing families. Families will be struggling behind closed doors, unknown to services.

Without financial support, there is a high likelihood that charities, including NCT, will be forced to cut services to around one million expectant mothers and new families, and to those affected by pregnancy and baby loss. These cuts will come at a time of unprecedented demand, with more than two thirds of those same charities expecting demand for their services to increase dramatically in the coming months. 

We are currently adapting our services and events to comply with current and ongoing restrictions, and we look forward to welcoming you to new and exciting events once things start to return to (the new) normal. 

If not us, then who?