Press release
For immediate release: Thursday 14 March 2013
Media contact: Kellie Stewart, Bliss Media Relations Manager, e
m 07725 747 826, t 0207 378 5741
Bliss launches £250,000 fund to improve family facilities in neonatal units
Bliss the special care baby charity is thrilled to be working withthe True Colours Trust to launch a new grants programmeto support the development of family-friendly facilities on neonatal units throughout the UK. Bliss and the True Colours Trustwill provide over £250,000 over the next two years to support direct improvements on neonatal units.
The Bliss Baby Charter Grants Fund supported by the True Colours Trust will inviteany neonatal unit that has completed the Bliss Baby Charter Audit to apply for a small grant (up to £1,000) or large grant (up to £10,000) to help improve facilities for parents and families of premature and sick babies. The Bliss Baby Charter Audit is used by hospitals tolook atkey aspects of aunit’s supportfor the whole family to help staff make family-centred care a reality.
The grant will allow hospitals to purchase small items such as lockers, comfortable chairs and breast pumps, as well as support the refurbishment of parent bedrooms, the creation of parent kitchens, and the opening of quiet rooms for sensitive discussions, which would often fall outside usual NHS budgets. The first round of small grants will be in May 2013, with further rounds open monthly. The first round of large grants will be in June 2013 and then on a quarterly basis.
Bliss Chief Executive Andy Cole said, “Bliss is leading the way in improving family-centred care in the UK and through this new grantsprogramme we can now directly help neonatal units to achieve more not only for babies but for their families too. We are truly grateful to the True Colours Trustfor its support, and together look forward to making a significant difference to the shape of neonatal services.”
Lucy Sainsbury, Chair of Trustees of the True Colours Trust said: “We are delighted to embark on a programme of support in partnership with Bliss to enhance the facilities in neonatal units which we hope will, in turn, help to improve the experience for families on the units.”
For more information about the scheme please contact Zoe Chivers at Bliss on 0207 378 1122 or email
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Notes to editors
About Bliss
Bliss, the special care baby charity, is dedicated to ensuring that all babies born too soon, too small or too sick in the UK have the best possible chance of survival and of reaching their full potential. It does this by:
-providing practical and emotional support for families during an extremely difficult time, so they can give the best care to their babies.
-providing training and support for doctors and nurses, funding specialist Bliss Family-Centred Care Nurses in hospitals and funding research to improve the care of all premature and sick babies
-raising awareness of the issues affecting special care babies and fight for essential change within government and the NHS.
For more information about Bliss, visit
About The True Colours Trust
The True Colours Trust is passionate about making a difference to the lives of children with special needs and their families and supporting people with life limiting and/or life threatening illnesses. The Trustees believe that all children and their families should be able to live happy, fulfilled lives with opportunities for play, friendship and education without the burdens of poverty, exclusion and discrimination.
The Trust works closely with organisations that share its ambition to provide imaginative, practical and often ground-breaking services in addition to delivering programmes that bring about sustained change whether at the level of policy or practice. The Trust’s work focuses on the major barriers and challenges experienced by families, children and young people with complex disabilities and/or life limiting and life threatening conditions.
The Trustees’ grant making focuses on the following three areas:
- Improving the service delivery and support offered to children with complex disabilities, their families and siblings in the UK.
- Strengthening palliative care services for children in the UK.
- Promoting and developing palliative care for adults and children in sub-Saharan Africa.
For more information, visit