Happy Baby Community
A safe space for mums who have fled violence
Happy Baby Community is a community of women who have fled violence or traffickers and are seeking protection in the UK while pregnant or caring for a young child. Founded by mothers with lived experience of migration, it is still led and shaped by women who know this path first hand.
From six community hubs across London, Surrey and Sussex, plus an online group, Happy Baby Community offers shared meals, English lessons, welfare advice, doula and breastfeeding support, and play for little ones. Support is offered in a mother’s own language, by a team that includes women who have walked the same path.
Mothers gain friendship, confidence and the practical know-how to build a settled life. Many go on to volunteer, train, gain qualifications or join the Community Leaders Board. Their babies get a safe, joyful start, with the play and care that prepares them to arrive at school ready to learn and belong.
2024
Year they joined the Raise Your Hands platform
3,406
Children and Young People supported last year
Why they’re needed
Most new parents have a safety net close by: a mother, a sister or a friend to call at 3am. The women in Happy Baby Community have often left that network behind, sometimes across a continent. They are facing pregnancy, birth and the first years of motherhood in a new country, often alone.
Many have lived through violence, trafficking, displacement and loss. On top of that, they are navigating the asylum system, unfamiliar health and welfare services and a new language, while caring for a newborn. Simple tasks, like registering with a GP or finding a nursery place, can feel overwhelming without someone to guide them.
Their children are growing up through the most important years for brain development, often in cramped or temporary housing, with frequent moves. What protects young children most is a stable, nurturing relationship with a caring adult, and a safe, consistent place to play and grow.
How they do it
Each hub, in Thornton Heath, Stratford, Acton, Barnet, Redhill and Crawley, is built around a weekly family-style lunch, activities and workshops. Mothers take home donated food parcels, and can join English lessons, Zumba, swimming, trauma-informed yoga and craft sessions. Mums Online brings English classes, welfare drop-ins and perinatal care to women who cannot get to a hub.
Through Safe Start, the perinatal programme, mothers choose the support that suits them: one-to-one doula care, birth preparation, breastfeeding guidance or a reassuring voice on the phone. Doulas support mums giving birth alone, and trained peers call regularly after the birth. Hospital bags, baby bundles and clothing help families start with the basics.
Every Child Can Thrive gives babies and toddlers under three the play their development depends on: movement, sensory food exploration, and rhyme and language sessions in every mother tongue. A welfare team offers one-to-one help in a mother’s own language, and a Listening Team trained in active listening offers peer support online and in person.
The Employment Pathway helps women turn existing qualifications into recognised UK ones, with English, IT, work experience and apprenticeships, particularly in healthcare and childcare. A leadership programme and the Community Leaders Board put women with lived experience at the heart of decision-making.
Find out more about Happy Baby Community’s amazing work
Bethlehem’s Story
Bethlehem arrived in a new country alone with her young daughter, and the early days were hard for them both. At Happy Baby Community, they found the support they needed: clothing, emotional support, other mums to connect with and a positive environment. “Happy Baby helped me through a lot,” she says. “The sense of community in Happy Baby is incredible.”
As she grew in confidence, Bethlehem began giving back. She started out as a member, then became a volunteer and a coordinator, and is now the charity’s Volunteer Manager, supporting the team that helps mothers just like her.
“This shows how empowering it is,” she says. “To give out what I have been given is amazing.”
(Watch Bethlehem in the video on the next tab.)
Support Happy Baby Community along with 15 other children’s charities
Happy Baby Community is one of a portfolio of small UK children’s charities championed by Raise Your Hands. When you donate to us, your gift is shared equally between every charity in the portfolio.
One donation. 16 small charities. 16 ways to change a young life.
