The founder and CEO of First Days Children’s Charity, Emma Cantrell, has been made an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list.
She received the honour for her services to vulnerable children.
First Days launched in 2013, with an aim of helping families in the Wokingham area who were struggling to provide everyday essentials, making it her personal mission to ensure no child goes without.
Over the last decade, the charity has grown from a baby bank in temporary space in Woodley to provide everything from the moment a baby is born to the moment a child leaves school, alongside specialist support for parents.
In that time, the charity has helped 25,000 children, and distributed more than 500 tonnes of donated goods.
Each year, it supports more than 8,000 children.
Emma says that even though Berkshire is an affluent area, issues such as the cost-of-living crisis means more than 45,000 children in Berkshire are living below the cost of poverty line: after the cost of housing and utilities, their parents have less than £19 a day to live on for food, clothes, fuel, transport and everyday basics.
First Days Children’s Charity aims to support families by providing clothes, furniture, toys, school uniforms, games, stationery and bedding.
Ms Cantrell has also become a familiar face on television and national media, as well as regularly appearing in Wokingham Today.
Issues she talks about include the reality of life for low-income families, the need for affordable childcare and housing, and why schools need affordable uniform policies. The charity currently has a campaign asking people to donate £5 to help it replenish its stocks of Wokingham borough school uniforms ahead of the new academic year in September.
During the lockdown stages of the covid-19 pandemic, Ms Cantrell ensured First Days had a role to play. She helped lead Wokingham borough’s emergency response to food provision, setting up and running a food hub, which, with the help of 120 volunteers, distributing over 8,000 food parcels to vulnerable residents.
And over the past decade, Ms Cantrell has helped raise more than £1.5 million, while also supporting and mentoring other women wanting to start charities in their area.
She said the MBE was an incredible honour and she was humbled to receive it.
“This work has been a labour of love for a decade of my life and I never fail to be utterly blown away by the incredible families we support,” Ms Cantrell said.
“It is an honour to be able to play a part in restoring dignity, choice and power to our local community through the work of First Days Children’s Charity.
“We don’t do this work for recognition, but if more people like me can be recognised in this way then that would be brilliant for the communities we serve.
“I am privileged to be surrounded by a fantastic team of staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to support families. Despite the very difficult circumstances we find ourselves in during a cost-of-living crisis and a funding crisis for the small charity sector, we continue to work hard to help as many families as we can.
“I hope that this honour will show more people the fantastic work that First Days’ does so we can carry on supporting families for as long as they need us.”
Rob Cant is First Days Children’s Charity’s chair of trustees, and he was thrilled that Ms Cantrell’s work had been recognised.
“We are incredibly proud of the hard work, passion and dedication with which Emma leads First Days, “ he said.
“Throughout the pandemic, the Ukrainian refugee crisis and now the cost of living crisis Emma has led the charity with courage and is never afraid to speak truth to power, as a voice for the families she so passionately cares about.
“We hope that this honour takes her and the charity from strength to strength.”
For more on the charity, log on to: www.firstdays.net
