Jen Harris, founder of the Baby Room on Paris Street, traces an eighteen-year journey from a cold scout hut in Heavitree to one of the most essential community spaces in Exeter, and makes an unanswerable case for what new families need.

Jen arrived in Exeter at sixteen and has never really left. When her first daughter was born in 2008, she wanted to use cloth nappies and asked the council about a job she had seen advertised in Scotland. They offered her a voluntary role instead. She said fine, and started Nappucino, a weekly drop-in for cloth nappies, slings and breastfeeding support that grew from once a month to twice a week, from a scout hut to a school to a three-floor city centre shop. She and her colleague Jill have been running it together ever since.

The Baby Room, a not-for-profit Community Interest Company at 23 Paris Stree ...