The Controversial Conduct of Jayne’s Baby Bank

Jayne’s Mother and Baby Bank, Food Bank and Charity Shops is run day to day by a woman known publicly as “Jayne Price”. People who knew her at school, and at former workplaces such as B&Q, know her as Carrie-Anne Ridsdale, a name she has publicly denied using (the name on her Pontypool lease). This report sets out a number of documented concerns about how the business has conducted itself across South Wales.

Threats on a live stream

What set it off? A member of the public wrote a Facebook post objecting to a £20 price on a pack of donated baby sleepsuits. On the live stream that followed, which she later deleted, Ms Ridsdale named the woman, said “I’ll put a picture up”, and told viewers: “if you’re in need of baby milk or nappies or anything like that, go and knock [her] door”. To another critic she named, she said: “I’m gonna pop up and see you”. She also said the woman would be banned from the shops, with “a nice picture up in the shop”.

In a separate incident, Jayne’s Baby Bank picked out the wrong mother and criticised her on Facebook. The woman replied publicly that she had never had anything to do with it. Other complaints have come from other foodbanks and from people who asked for help.

Charity status, or wordplay?

Today the business calls itself mainly a food bank. In the past it marketed itself as a charity shop. As our earlier report set out (charity shops vs charity status), she uses language that suggests charitable status without the registration.

One example: the Financial Conduct Authority wrote to “Jayne Price” confirming it did not object to the “Sensitive Business Name” she proposed, a name with the word “bank” in it. That lets her use the word. It does not make her a charity. Her post about the letter, on 13 November 2022, said (the post):

You can’t say you are a charity unless you are a charity…. I didn’t – I said I owned a charity shop! 😜

Her post, 13 November 2022

Her TikTok page went further: “when my Dad says I need to get a real job! I’m retired. director of one of the largest children’s charity’s in Wales and an influencer! 🤣” In another TikTok video she alludes again to her legal position.

Her posts have also called the business “a family run charity that empowers women” (25 July 2022, the post) and “a children’s charity (pending)” (7 September 2023, the post).

Posting people as shoplifters

Several posts on the Baby Bank’s public Facebook page appear to show identifiable people she accuses of shoplifting. On 23 December 2023 she wrote: “We have reserved the right to publish images/ details of shoplifters and volunteers who steal or use fraud and deception.” (the post). Some appear in an album titled “Shoplifters and volunteers that steal, or use fraud & deception”.

Publishing identifiable pictures of people accused of wrongdoing, especially without evidence or a conviction, can breach data protection law: in the UK, the UK GDPR, which follows the General Data Protection Regulation.

Her posts: 13 November 2023, 24 April 2024, and the album.

The “David Jones” profile

A profile named David Jones posts messages that closely match Ms Ridsdale’s known style. Screenshots suggest the profile may be run from the same device or interface.

The feud with “Mr Smith”

The Baby Bank has been in a public dispute with the operator of a rival charity, referred to here as “Mr Smith”. It escalated when Ms Ridsdale accused him of stealing a sign and a van, and published claims about his background. Mr Smith published a DBS check showing no convictions involving children and nothing on the barred lists, yet she reportedly pointed to unrelated media reports about him, which raises concerns about possible defamation. He has responded publicly. The reported police involvement is here. We set out where the feud went next in From Feud to Fabrication.

What she has said about her health

Ms Ridsdale has publicly described several serious health conditions. In her own posts:

• 23 December 2022: “I have a massive tumor and aplastic anemia which is a rare blood and bone marrow cancer” (the post).
• 28 February 2023: the tumour had shrunk to 7.8 cm, and “they still can’t find my left ovary” (the post).
• 9 August 2023: “I have been diagnosed with diabetes” (the post).
• 22 May 2024: “I have pica disorder” (the post).

In a later live video, since deleted, she disputed one of these: “Aplastic Anemia isn’t bone marrow cancer. So, I don’t know who is informing Sherlock.” (the transcript). The words “bone marrow cancer” were hers, in the post of 23 December 2022.

Volunteers

Jayne’s Baby Bank relies heavily on volunteers, many of whom give their time in good faith. A post of 15 June 2024 set out strict conditions for volunteers: a minimum of 8 hours a week to qualify for “staff discount and benefits”, and restrictions on what they could buy and when (the post). That raises questions for a business that presents itself as charitable. We looked at the volunteer rewards in volunteering or paid work?

“I don’t answer to nobody”

On a live stream, since deleted, she threatened other charities and groups, and said she does not answer to the council, the Charity Commission or the police (the transcript):

you are the ones that we’re going to take down because I don’t answer to nobody. I don’t answer to the Charity Commission. I don’t answer to the council. I don’t answer to the police.

Her live stream, January 2025 (from a transcript of the recording)

We quoted the same threat in our report on the PayPal listings. The full record is in the Sherlock Dossier.

Sources