A BROCKLEY mum-of-two whose London charity provide vital support for struggling families has been hand-picked by The National Lottery to feature on a special Mother’s Day podcast with TV star Anna Williamson.

Sophie Livingstone, CEO of charity Little Village, was singled out by The National Lottery for her project’s inspirational work providing clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children across hubs in Camden, Wandsworth, Battersea and Southwark.

Sophie was chosen to appear on the National Lottery’s ‘It Takes A Village’ podcast, an uplifting and informative mini-series – hosted by Celebs Go Dating star and mum-of-two Anna – which shines a light on some of the Lottery-funded charities who offer support to mums at this difficult time.

Each episode focuses on a different theme around motherhood and Sophie, mum to Clara, seven, and Eliza, two, says the podcast is raising vital awareness ahead of Mother’s Day on March 14th.

Sophie, 43, who is in just her fifth week as CEO and lives in Brockley with her two children and husband Simon Bishop, said: “It’s a great recognition of all the work that has gone on over the last five years, and the centrality of mums to what we do.

“This year more than ever, mums need thanking and recognising, and particularly the mums in the circumstances that we’re supporting.

“It was a really good opportunity to shine a light on the difficult circumstances that a lot of these families are having to survive through.

“It was just a really lovely chat – Anna was really lovely and relaxed and it was just two mums talking. It was great and I really enjoyed it.

“It was great to meet Anna – virtually – and have the chance to talk through things. It was one of the first opportunities I’ve had to talk in my new role, which felt strange – but in a good way.

“Anna was so warm and lovely, shared her own experiences as a mum and has also donated to her own local bank. She really understood the need for Little Village and why we exist.

Hampshire Chronicle: Sophie featured on The National Lottery's 'It Takes A Village' podcast alongside Celebs Go Dating star Anna Williamson Sophie featured on The National Lottery's 'It Takes A Village' podcast alongside Celebs Go Dating star Anna Williamson

Ahead of Mother’s Day on Sunday, each episode of the It Takes A Village podcast focuses on different themes around motherhood such as supporting your mental and physical health, providing essential items for your child or dealing with grief and pain.

And Sophie’s episode (episode one) – which also featured Cardiff charity Cwtch – centred on the importance of baby banks and how struggling families can access support for their children.

The mini-series is hosted by Celebs Go Dating star Anna, who has also worked on major national programmes and is a published author, qualified counsellor and ambassador for several charities.

Little Village accept donations of excellent-condition, pre-loved items before passing them on to families and provide a warm, supportive community for the families they work with.

Powered by National Lottery funding, the project has helped 11,000 families and children since 2016 and continued to provide a vital support network throughout the pandemic.

Little Village is expanding to a fifth hub in Wembley this year and Sophie thanked National Lottery players for enabling the project to thrive.

She added: “National Lottery funding got us on to a firm footing.

“It just added so much credibility to us to fundraise off the back of that investment – it’s been really transformational and continues to be.

“It’s enabled us to go from a very small hand to mouth operation to something a lot more sustainable.

“Thank you to everyone who buys National Lottery tickets because you’re making a huge difference to lots of children’s experience of growing up.”

National Lottery players raise £30 million a week for good causes. National Lottery funding to support the UK-wide response to the coronavirus pandemic has exceeded £1 billion during the last year.To find out more about how to access extra support at this time, listen to ‘It Takes A Village’ now via lotterygoodcauses.org.ukSpotify or on Apple Podcasts