When people say something stupid, I use it to help raise money for good

I have a history of weaponising social media bigotry for good – my appeal to build a Nigel Farage-themed hovercraft for the RNLI reached more than £230,000 (Picture: Supplied)

You know when you’re only half-listening to the TV and a report comes on about organisations having to ration formula to desperate parents who cannot afford to feed their own babies? 

You assume that the story couldn’t possibly be taking place in one of the richest countries on the planet.

So, imagine my shock when I decided to give my full attention and discovered that they were actually talking about food banks and baby banks in the United Kingdom. 

We already know that there is a cost of living crisis, but surely things hadn’t quite reached that stage yet?

How could formula prices have rocketed to the extent that parents of tiny babies were being forced to water down every bottle, something that can have a catastrophic effect on a developing baby’s health and wellbeing? Something that can have lifelong consequences.

SIGN THE FORMULA FOR CHANGE PETITION HERE.

All of this was still playing on my mind an hour or so later when I saw the same video pop up on Twitter – or on what used to be known as ‘Twitter,’ although good luck getting us Brits to stop calling it ‘Twitter’ as we still use the word ‘tape’ when recording onto a Sky Q box.

Like a complete fool, I was expecting the vast majority of the reactions to mirror my own in the replies. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Silly, naive Simon.

Why on earth do people still believe that every parent can breastfeed in the first place with minimal effort? (Picture:Getty)

First, we had the ‘can’t feed, don’t breed’ brigade who seem to have forgotten that anyone who is financially comfortable or getting by can suddenly have all of that taken away in the blink of an eye.

Losing a job, losing a partner, becoming seriously ill… people aren’t bloody clairvoyant!

Then, we had the ‘just breastfeed – it’s free’ crowd.

Now I’m a man, and as such I don’t believe that I’m a world-leading expert in such matters, but my basic biology understanding and watching my wife’s own experiences tell me that three months or six months down the line, you can’t just look down at your own knockers and demand that they start producing milk again. They won’t suddenly gush like a Thames Water leak. This isn’t a Dairy Crest Depot.

And why on earth do people still believe that every parent can breastfeed in the first place with minimal effort? There are a whole range of reasons why it might not happen, and believe me ‘laziness’ ain’t one of them.

People have forgotten that anyone who is financially comfortable or getting by can suddenly have all of that taken away in the blink of an eye (Picture: Getty Images)(Picture: Supplied)

Anyway, I have a history of weaponising social media bigotry and stupidity for good – recently my appeal to build a Nigel Farage-themed hovercraft for the RNLI reached more than £230,000, which all went to this very worthy institution to use however they saw fit specifically in lifeboat stations on The English Channel. 

Meanwhile, ‘Maccies Without Malice’ ended with more than £20,000 being awarded to food banks all over the country so families could take their kids out for a Happy Meal, following MP Lee Anderson losing his rag when spotting a food bank-using family in a local branch of the restaurant. The horror, the horror.

I decided to try and do the same for these parents who clearly need our help, and I’m humbled by the support I received from both the public and GoFundMe themselves.

We already have more than £60,000 to supply pots of infant formula to food banks, baby banks, and any other organisation providing assistance to desperate parents. Based on average serving sizes, that’s enough for 260,487 individual feeds for babies of UK parents who are struggling to afford formula.

I’m delighted to be working with Feed, a Scottish charity who provide independent infant feeding support.

If a struggling family getting a tub of formula one week for ‘free’ because they have a loyalty point stash, surely it becomes a no-brainer (Picture: Getty Images)

They are very kindly administering a large proportion of the funds received and issuing ‘microgrants’ to registered charities so they can go and stock up on formula for their visiting families. I am also working on purchasing and delivering formula to a number of organisations local  to me in South Essex, and other groups who aren’t registered charities can also get in touch with me to request funding for the same.

Obviously this is all reasonably short-term, but there is a bigger picture too, and that’s why I am behind the Formula For Change campaign, from Metro.co.uk and Feed. 

All things considered, it seems absolutely barmy that ‘from birth’ formula cannot legally be purchased with gift cards, vouchers and supermarket loyalty points in the UK – this needs to change. 

If a struggling family getting a tub of formula one week for ‘free’ because they have a loyalty point stash means their baby’s bottles not being watered down for the next seven days, surely it becomes a no-brainer.

Recently, the CMA concluded that formula manufacturers have been increasing prices beyond their increased production costs. In my view, this is completely unacceptable at a time when so many are struggling to afford it – we’re not talking about a luxury item here. If some parents are having to water it down to make it last longer and put their babies’ health at serious risk, such profiteering can never be OK.

It’s interesting to see Iceland taking a stand and selling formula at cost price which is pretty much against the law. I’ve started talking to their Executive Chair Richard Walker about this informally and I’m pleased to see that there is no sign of them backing down.

However, supermarkets shouldn’t have to be forced into these decisions, when a change in the guidance would allow Stage One formula to be discounted as well, or featured in multibuy offers.

When you stipulate that this cannot happen, you’re effectively encouraging the manufacturers and some supermarkets to flog it at an inflated price. 

Later stage formula is already discounted, and it hasn’t brought the world to a calamitous end and the economy hasn’t imploded as a result. So why not give it a go? 

MORE : Ladbaby’s Mark Hoyle ‘doesn’t know if he’d have coped’ starting a family amid the cost-of-living crisis

MORE : Iceland boss criticises ‘exploitation’ of parents over baby formula

MORE : UK competition watchdog to investigate baby formula market

Blogger Simon Harris – aka Man Behaving Dadly – has raised £300,000 for charities so far.