A MUM who quit her job to set up a breastfeeding support group for mothers after struggling to naturally feed her second-born has launched a new health and wellbeing centre for families.

Elaine Edwards and her team at Families and Babies have expanded into bigger premises to provide more services to mums, their families and the community as a whole – from volunteering opportunities, work placements, relaxation, counselling, peer support groups for breastfeeding mums, children’s play room, technology and meeting area.

The new centre is a far cry from the charity shop set up four years ago in Tonge Moor Road to fund a breastfeeding peer support group which would meet in the small back kitchen.

Now that shop sells quality furniture with the new bigger base just a couple of minutes up the road transformed into a community hub.

The new centre has a bigger charity shop selling good quality clothes — some new — for all the family, as well baby products, cards and items for the home.

Family and Babies has also opened a affordable hair and beauty salon to the public. Money raised from shop and the salon services will be invested in the community services it provides.

And the charity is hoping businesses will come on board to help fit out the rooms so can they start delivering those services as soon as possible.

Realising there was a huge gap in services for mums like her, Mrs Edwards made the difficult decision to leave her well paid job as a financial adviser to help other mums in the same boat and set up a support group for breastfeeding mothers.

That was 12 years ago, and now her charity Families and Babies delivers breastfeeding peer support for mothers and babies as well as their families across the country, in some cases right from day one supporting mums in hospitals.

But despite the need in Bolton, no funding — apart from for one year — was available in to establish a similar support group. So she decided to go it alone and set up a charity shop to fund it in her home town.

This is despite breastfeeding having both health and economic benefits, saving the NHS £40 million in treating children with gastroenteritis.

Elaine said: "When Families and Babies started in Blackburn with Darwen, other authorities were watching to see the results. We started providing the service in Accrington, Lancashire, and we now also provide breastfeeding support in Dorset and Poole.

"The funding in Bolton was withdrawn after a year. There is a need for this, this is one of the most deprived areas in Bolton. I know what a difference peer support in helping mums.

"At the back of the shop there was a small kitchen where we could provide support, it was tiny but we had a health visitor who used to come in.”

As well as the shop, the charity started a man in a van service and delivers for large furniture companies to raise money. So desperate was the demand for the service, the charity needed to expand and thanks to a surprise donation and the money Families and Babies had raised, the health and wellbeing centre is now taking shape down the road.

Marie Longworth is training to provide more specialist help for those who need it.

Mrs Edwards said: "We moved into the building in April and the shop opened in May.

"When we moved in to the building needed a lot of work on it and we decided to crowdfunding to raise the money.

"Although crowdfunding wasn’t a success, the Yanis Foundation based in Monaco saw it on the web and phoned me up and said they wanted to help. It funded £13,000.

"There is still a lot to do, we need help in furnishing the rooms. One will be a boardroom which we can rent out as meeting rooms, for which we now there is need, and make money from to go back into the services for Bolton.

"We really need flooring before we can start putting things in and we really hope businesses may be able to help.

"For people we know budgets are tight, we are offering something different, where people can get something in return, by renting out a room, having their hair done and knowing they are also helping.”

But as well bringing money in for the charity, the salon and shop also provide a welcoming environment in which people can open up if they wish and share any concerns they have without fear.

Elaine said: “We have helped doctors, nurses to young mums.

"Often mums don’t want to admit to professionals they are struggling but here they can talk without any pressure and realise they are not alone and other mums feel the same. It doesn’t matter what background you are from, a mum is a mum, and will have those concerns."

The service also helps dads and other members of the family to deal with the issues a new baby can bring. And because the charity in Bolton is self-sustaining, Elaine says it is able to respond to the needs of the community and can provide services to help, from breastfeeding to helping people breakdown barriers to getting back into work.

To help the charity either through donations of money, equipment or volunteering visit familiesandbabies.org.uk/