About us
Rosie’s Corner was founded by Rosie Gilchrist in 2017 and became a registered charity in 2021. Our staff, volunteers and trustees work together to support families across our region.
Meet Rosie
Rosie Gilchrist is a single mum of three children. Her youngest child was born weeks after the two child policy was put into place in 2017. The policy is one of the biggest drivers of child poverty in the UK, and was the reason for her setting up Rosie’s Corner.
In 2018 Rosie was working at a local food bank when she began to notice that many of the families coming in needed clothing as well as food. She decided to dedicate her spare time to setting up a voluntary project to help those families who needed more than just food.
Rosie’s Corner started out as Hexham Kids Bank, operating from a set of shelves in a local church. At first Rosie ran it entirely on her own, including delivering items of clothing to families on foot - usually in bags attached to the handle of the buggy carrying her youngest son.
Rosie says,”I realised I was not the only mum or family out there who was struggling financially due to the two child policy. I worked when Tyler was only weeks old, I did kitchen work and paid for his childcare but I was still struggling to make ends meet. After watching a Dispatches documentary about the rise of UK baby banks I decided to set up one for my local community to help those in the same boat as me. I didn’t do it for recognition, I did it because I know what it is like to struggle.”
Becoming Rosie’s Corner
After two successful years helping hundreds of families across West Northumberland, the global pandemic hit and access to the church was limited due to Covid restrictions. Rosie wanted to help continue helping families, knowing that as times got harder the need would become even greater.
Rosie removed the stock from the church and ran the project out of her kitchen, packing deliveries and leaving them on the step for local drivers to pick up. It was at this point that Hexham Kids Bank - a voluntary project, became an established company and was renamed Rosie’s Corner.
Becoming a company meant Rosie’s Corner could start accessing grants and funding, and the process of saving up cash began. Gradually enough money was raised to fund a new space for Rosie’s Corner at Burn Lane in Hexham - somewhere families could come to get the items they need and big enough to get all the stock out of Rosie’s kitchen!
Rosie’s Corner was granted charity status in 2021, opening up access to larger grants and funding. So far Rosie’s Corner has benefited from money from several organisations, including £20,000 of National Lottery funding and £10,000 from The Forrestor Trust.
Rosie is now the project coordinator of the charity she founded and earns a salary. Drop-in sessions for families run every week from the unit on Burn Lane and we run regular pop-up events in other towns across West Northumberland. Every Christmas, Rosie’s Corner also runs initiatives to provide gifts for local children impacted by poverty, with drop-off points setup across the region.
Rosie is supported by a board of trustees and a growing band of volunteers.
Our impact
Our 2024 charity impact report showed that over the past two years, demand for our service has grown 64%. Over the last three years, we’ve distributed over 3,000 items of clothing to more than 1,000 families across the region.
Figures from the North East End Child Poverty commission show that nine pupils in a class of 30 are affected by the pressures of poverty, and 680 children in Hexham are affected by the two child policy. The policy has plummeted more than 800,000 children across the UK into deeper pockets of poverty.
Rosie is part of the All Kids Count campaign, alongside the End Child Poverty Group, that aims to get the two child policy scrapped. Her campaigning work has seen her join others at the Houses of Parliament in London.
Learn more about the campaign on the End Child Poverty Group website.
Looking to the future
Rosie’s Corner would like to move to a larger space so we can provide even more of a community hub for families. We’d love to have a space big enough for families to sit, relax, enjoy a cuppa and take part in other activities as well as getting the clothing and equipment they need. We’d also love to increase the number of pop-up events we can run, get our own van to help us with deliveries, and collect even more gifts for children at Christmas.
If you have ideas or suggestions for locations for our pop-up events, email rosiescornerkidsbank@gmail.com.
If you’d like to donate and help Rosie’s Corner to reach and support even more families, you can donate to our GoFundMe page.
Explore other ways to get involved with Rosie’s Corner, including volunteering and fundraising.
