Safety guidelines for donating items

Our commitment to safety and quality

We work hard to ensure that every item we rehome is safe, fit for purpose, of high quality, as well as practical for the families’ specific needs.

To make sure that every request we respond to upholds these standards, we use a series of safety and quality measures to make sure donated items are safe to rehome. We do this with reference to current safe sleeping advice, consumer advice bodies, the NHS and the Lullaby Trust, and we take advice from a range of sources, including British Safety Standard documents, and our referral partners.

We use a combination of approaches to ensure that items are safe, and we are grateful for your help in making some essential checks at home before donating items to us. We understand that it may be disappointing to learn that an item your family have loved and used will not be suitable for us to rehome, but with your support we can make the best use of our space and volunteer time.

Please provide an instruction manual with all donated equipment

Item specific guidelines...

Cots and cot beds

The item must contain labelling to show it complies with British Standards Institution (BSI) safety standards. It should be either on the item (usually on the base) or in the manual with one of the following numbers:
- BS EN 716-1:2008
- BS EN 716-1:2008+A1:201
- BS EN 716-1:2017
- EN 716-1:2017
The cot must be less than 10 years old.
There must be no missing parts or damage to the cot/cot bed; broken bars or slats, sharp edges or obvious places for a baby’s clothes to get snagged – This can be a strangulation hazard.
The cot must have all the appropriate fixings with it. These need to be either the original manufacturer’s parts, or exact copies.
We do not accept used mattresses.

Bedside cribs

The bedside crib must be labelled as complying with British Standards Institution (BSI) safety standards. It should be labelled with the entire number: BS EN 1130: 2019 either on the item or in the manual.
If the crib has a BS EN 1130 mark with an earlier date than 2019, it must have a 12cm barrier or wall when in bedside mode to stop the baby rolling out.
There must be no missing parts or damage to the bedside crib; broken bars or slats, tears to the mesh/material, broken zips, sharp edges or obvious places for a baby’s clothes to get snagged – This can be a strangulation hazard.
The crib must have all the appropriate fixings with it. These need to be either the original manufacturer’s parts, or exact copies.
We cannot accept SnuzPods 1, 2 or 3 as they do not comply with the safety standards above.
We do not accept used mattresses.

Cribs

The crib must be labelled as complying with British Standards Institution (BSI) safety standards. It should be labelled with the entire number: BS EN 1130: 2019 either on the item or in the manual.
There must be no missing parts or damage to the crib; broken bars or slats, sharp edges or obvious places for a baby’s clothes to get snagged – This can be a strangulation hazard.
There must be a distance of at least 300mm between the base and the top rail of the crib (without mattress).
The crib must have all the appropriate fixings with it. These need to be either the original manufacturer’s parts, or exact copies.
We do not accept used mattresses.

Travel cots

The travel cot must be labelled as complying with British Standards Institution (BSI) safety standards. It should be labelled with the entire number: BS EN 716-1:2008+A1:2013 or BS EN 716-1:2008+A1:2017 either on the item or in the manual.
The travel cot must not have any tears or holes in the mesh sides or any broken zips. All corner coverings must be in place, the base must be free from any damage with no sharp edges.
It must lock securely into place when opened.
We do not accept used mattresses.

Highchairs

The highchair must be labelled as complying with British Standards Institution (BSI) safety standards. It should be labelled with the entire number: BS EN 14988:2017, or the later version BS EN 14988:2017+A1:2020 either on the item or in the manual.
The highchair must have a three point or five point working harness that is not frayed or damaged.
The seat pads or cushions must be free from holes and tears. Look out for holes where a nimble-fingered baby might pull out foam, as it can be a choking hazard.
There must be no cracks, sharp edges or moving parts than could cut, trap or crush a baby’s fingers, especially on the tray if it is removable.
All metal parts must be free from rust.

Moses baskets

Moses baskets must not have splits in the weave.
The handles must be securely attached with the original weave and not have been fixed or altered.
We do not accept used mattresses.

Buggies and prams

Buggies/prams must be in good working order and comply with British safety standards BS EN 7409:1996 or BS EN 1888:2003.
The parking brake and the mechanism to fold the buggy/collapse the frame must work correctly.
There must be no sharp edges or points on the pram/buggy and no parts are bent out of shape.
The pram/buggy must have a complete safety harness that holds the baby safely within the seat, that is not frayed, broken or missing.
Please provide any parts, adaptors, accessories, raincovers, instructions and spares you have along with the buggy – this saves us valuable time and resources and gets buggies out to families much faster.
We do not accept used mattresses.

Safety guidelines for donating items

Our commitment to safety and quality

Please provide an instruction manual with all donated equipment

Item specific guidelines...

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