A charity which supplies baby food, clothes and essentials like cots to some of the poorest mothers in London fears it will close down because of Sadiq Khan‘s controversial clean air scheme.
Baby Bank HQ has helped hundreds of families in the East End by providing milk, prams, clothes and toys to struggling parents who cannot afford them for their new-borns.
But the group’s future has been thrown into doubt as Mayor Khan expands his Ultra Low Emission Zone into the outer boroughs of London at the end of August.
Baby Bank collects goods from donors and delivers them to struggling families using a diesel Vauxhall van which is not ULEZ-compliant, and so the charity will have to pay £12.50 every day for any journeys.
Bosses at the charity said they cannot afford the daily charge, and so will either scale back or be forced to stop their work.
SPECIAL LIFELINE: Workers at The Baby Bank HQ sort out supplies (pictured)
Baby Bank is among hundreds of organisations in the capital that face closure or severe loss because of ULEZ, which, according to one study, will cost over £800m to London’s economy.
Baby Bank, based in Havering, is desperately trying to raise £5,000 for a new ULEZ-compliant van, but have so far have raised £55 on their GoFundMe page.
Kelly Rosevear, a co-founder of the charity and a serving Met police officer, said: ‘I think the ULEZ zone should not have been expanded this far out.
‘We have seen the number of people turning to us double because of the cost-of-living crisis. But if ULEZ reduces our service, there just isn’t another charity that does what we are doing around here.’
Last week, five outer London boroughs launched a High Court challenge against ULEZ’s expansion, arguing that parts of Khan’s consultation were so ‘unintelligible’, it rendered the whole process ‘illegal.’
Janet Gibson, 74, an ice cream lady for 54 years in Rainham, East London, is being forced to abandon her job in August.
Her Ford ice cream van does not comply with ULEZ, but she cannot afford to pay the £12.50 daily charge and still make a profit.
Mrs Gibson said: ‘I am more sad than angry. I cannot buy a new ice cream van as they cost over £60,000. There is no need to expand ULEZ, but this man [Khan] does not listen to anyone.’
A few doors down from Mrs Gibson, Rod Mulvie, 62, a life-long builder, is planning to sell his house as he cannot live inside the ULEZ zone.
His diesel Citroen van falls foul of ULEZ, as does his son Harry’s vehicle, and the vans of his two workers.
The builder said any job his team goes to will cost them around £50 in ULEZ charges daily, which he cannot afford, nor which he can pass down to his customers.
Mr Mulvie said: ‘I have lived in my house all my life, but I am now thinking of selling it and leaving the area so I am outside ULEZ, and I will do jobs in outer areas.
‘This man Khan must realise what he has done to people’s lives and jobs.’
David Tayler, 61, a former fireman, owns the 15-acre Long Meadow Farm in Upminster, Essex, whose only dirt track leads to a road that falls inside the proposed ULEZ zone.
He says he will have to pay £12.50 per day to leave his farm as he has a diesel Hilux Invincible, which he uses to transport his horses and goats on trailers.
Mr Tayler said: ‘I can’t afford to replace this, as it will cost me more than £30,000. So I will have to pay.
‘You have to realise, we don’t have public transport here. The nearest bus stop is over a mile away.’
Howard Cox, a London Mayoral candidate and founder of the pressure group Fair Fuel UK, said: ‘Not only will Khan’s needless ULEZ plans shrink London’s economy by £800m per year, the harm to sole traders, High Streets and charitable organisations will be catastrophic, even terminal.’
A spokesman for Khan said: ‘The Mayor has been clear that the decision to expand ULEZ was not an easy one, but necessary to tackle toxic air pollution.’
