Questions about Jayne’s Baby Bank

No. Jayne’s Baby Bank C.I.C. (company 16838920) was incorporated on 7 November 2025. A CIC is a company, not a charity. On 9 April 2026 the Charity Commission wrote that it “is a Community Interest Company (CIC) and not a charity”.

A trading name, not a registered company. Torfaen’s Head of Legal wrote on 6 October 2025 that “the entity known as Jaynes Baby Bank is not a registered company”. It traded as “Jayne’s Baby Bank and Charity Shop”. Her posts said “awaiting Charity registration” (22 November 2022) and “charity pending” (at least 11 posts between 2023 and 13 September 2026, so after the CIC too).

Jayne Price is the name used publicly and on the CIC. Our investigation reports that the person behind it is Carrie-Anne Ridsdale, who trades as Jayne Price.

Caerphilly Council says it has “no formal partnership, endorsement, or support arrangement” (5 February 2026), though it did supply £432.48 of period products and a window poster. Caerphilly Social Services said it is “NOT endorsed” to make referrals (24 July 2024). Pontypool Community Council gave a £1,000 grant in November 2024; its committee later said it was “not the type of organisation that should receive funding” (4 February 2026).

The NHS bodies in Wales that have answered say no. Aneurin Bevan (28 May 2026): “no formal affiliation, partnership, referral arrangement, or working relationship”. Velindre: “no affiliation or known engagement”. Hywel Dda and Powys: no records or involvement. Cardiff and Vale: its children’s hospital and maternity services “have not had any communication or visits”.

No. The Trussell Trust (4 September 2025): it “is not a Trussell foodbank and has never been”. FareShare (16 October 2025): not a member and never received food through FareShare Go. The Baby Bank Alliance: “This baby bank is not a member.”

Yes. The Financial Conduct Authority (22 July 2025) says it is “not on the Financial Services Register”; she posted on 1 July 2025 that it is “regulated by 3 county councils and the Financial Conduct Authority”. Acas (18 August 2025): “no affiliation”. Baby Basics UK (26 May 2026): “never had any connection or affiliation”.

She describes the shops as registered: “four registered baby banks and four registered Foodbank Fundraising Shops” (4 February 2025). The registration we hold is a food-business form sent to Caerphilly Council on 24 February 2024. It lists the operator as “A charity (registered by a representative)” and the charity number as “Awaiting”. The number she quotes changes: five in May 2025, two in September 2026.

She has said both. 25 May 2024: “We do not charge for this food as we have 4 registered foodbanks and are not a pantry.” 6 February 2026: “going forward we will charge £5 a pantry bag”. 17 June 2026: “We are a foodbank and a pantry.”

It has changed. 3 August 2022: “Nappies £1 minimum donation per pack, 1 pack per family”. On 12 January 2026 she wrote “we do not charge for nappies or baby milk”, and on video the same day (machine transcript): “it was a suggested donation. We wouldn’t, we never charged.” From February 2026 nappies are one choice in a £5 pantry bag.

South Wales Fire and Rescue told us on 16 April 2026: “There is an Enforcement Notice and a Prohibition Notice on the premises” at 5 Crane Street (Prohibition Notice served 3 March 2026). Torfaen Council said on 2 April 2026 it had received 4 complaints about those premises and was investigating. On 7 October 2026 it confirmed it is investigating a suspected altered notice: an investigation, not a finding.

Torfaen Trading Standards logged one complaint, from Citizens Advice, about whether it is a charity, with “no action taken” (reply of 2 April 2026). A visit log of 4 July 2025 records a window poster “claiming to be a charity”; the officer asked for it to be removed.

A county court judgment for £7,141 (23 May 2024, unsatisfied) is listed against “Ceri-Ann Ridsdale t/a Jayne’s Baby Bank”. The register search returned it as a possible match and does not show who brought it. She has said no landlord, electricity company or council took her to court for non-payment.

Landlords took back the Aberbargoed unit on 30 November 2023. The Brynmawr shop opened on 7 December 2023 and closed on 12 July 2024. The number of “registered” shops she quotes changes: four in February 2025, five in May 2025, two in September 2026.

At least £189,580 over four years, by our estimate. It uses signed leases, rents she posted herself, and the government’s published rateable values for the rest. It is an estimate, and where she has given her own rents they were higher than ours.

By our count, up to 4 October 2026 she had announced it 51 times since April 2024 without once giving a start date. Her 29 September 2026 recruitment poster asks for an “NNEB or qualified Teaching Assistant Level 3” and an “Enhanced DBS”.

Yes. On 19 August 2026 she posted: “No one is employed or volunteers with us who hasn’t had an enhanced DBS check.” Our reporting is that, in the weeks around that post, a man jailed in 2013 for child sex offences was helping at its Pontypool premises and living in the building. She denies that he lived there.

She has described it differently over time. 18 July 2023: “I went to Uni at 39 and got my degree and diploma in nursing”. 27 July 2023: “studying to be a nurse”. 2 April 2026: “I also studied Adult Nursing at Cardiff University for 3 years”. By 6 September 2026 her profile read “Former Student Nurse”. We have found no post or video where she says she is a registered nurse, and no degree certificate has been published.

22 January 2025: “I also have a diploma in bio chemistry also have a Advanced level 3 Health and Social Care”. 18 July 2023: “now I’m doing a PHD”. Neither has been backed by a document we have seen.

Her profile lists the “CACHE Level 3 Award, Certificate and Diploma in Child Care and Education”. On 13 September 2026 she posted that her mother “went back to college to get her child minding qualifications and I forgot I went with her”.

She has given three answers. 22 January 2025: “I’ve worked for 12 years in a resource base”. 2 April 2026: “in a school for 10 years”. 17 July 2026: “I was employed from the age of 18-30”. The Education Workforce Council said on 3 September 2025 that nobody of the name searched is, or has been, registered with it. Registration only became compulsory for school learning support staff on 1 April 2016, so that record covers the years since.

On 13 and 14 September 2026 she posted two “different” 1996 certificates that our report shows are the same photograph, and a 1996 GCSE certificate image that carries an OpenAI watermark. On 17 September she posted an email said to be from Cardiff University that names a “BSc (Hons) Nursing (Adult)”; Cardiff’s adult nursing degree is a BN (Hons). Facebook labelled some of the images “AI content”.

An independent group writing as Sherlock. This isn’t Jayne’s Baby Bank’s website and we have no connection to it. We don’t publish our personal details. We publish records, replies and her own words, and say where each one comes from.

Freedom of Information replies, emails from councils, regulators and charities, Companies House, a court register search, and her own posts, videos and TikToks, which we have kept. Video and TikTok transcripts are machine-made, so check the video for anything important.

Yes, in places. On 1 October 2026, the day we published what four years of shops cost to run, she replied with her own list of rents. She agreed with the three rents we took from signed documents, and said our estimates were too low.

Concerns about a CIC go to the CIC Regulator: Report prepares one. For fundraising concerns the Charity Commission points to the Fundraising Regulator, and to the police or Report Fraud if you think a crime has happened. To tell us what you know, use Whistleblower.

Yes. These are the official records:

• Companies House: Jayne’s Baby Bank C.I.C.Company 16838920: incorporation, directors and filings.
• Register of charitiesSearch the Charity Commission register for the name.
• CIC RegulatorHow to raise a concern about a CIC.
• Financial Services RegisterCheck whether a firm is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.