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Status
Received: on time
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Income
£924.4K
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Spending
£1.0M
Public benefits
The impact of our Objects can be described as follows: • A society that understands the needs of premature babies and their families • An improvement in the quality of life for premature and sick babies and their families • An understanding of the support services that need to be in place to improve the outcomes for premature babies and their
families • Practical and emotional support to the families of premature and sick babies to improve long term outcomes for premature and sick babies • An understanding of the medical conditions that can affect premature babies. TinyLife is Northern Ireland’s only premature and vulnerable baby charity, dedicated to reducing illness, disability and death in babies born and providing support for families affected by such circumstances. When the charity was first set up, NI had some of the highest levels of infant mortality and morbidity rates in the developed world. Initially the charity funded pioneering research to reduce the number of deaths and continues to fund research to inform medical and social developments in this area. From the wealth of national and international studies of parents of preterm babies, researchers clearly documented the overwhelming anxiety and impact on families, family lives and outcomes for preterm babies. As outcomes for new born infants improved the challenge is to support families and fill the vacuum which exists for these families in their unique set of circumstances. By raising awareness of the issues effecting parents and putting in place a range of support interventions which address practical, emotional and social needs we can improve the longer term outcomes for such babies and their families. The services have been designed and delivered to have the greatest impact bringing about individual and collective public benefit which include: Research funded by TinyLife has increased the survival rates for babies and provided an understanding of the support services that need to be put into place to improve outcomes for babies and their families. Programmes of education and raising awareness with both health professionals and parents increase the knowledge of health and emotional outcomes and support the reduction of the impact of having a preterm baby. Family Support Services showed that families benefited by: • Breast pump loan services – provide mothers with opportunities to provide breast milk for preterm babies which is crucial for growth and development. • Home based volunteers – provide practical support for the family to relive the stress and pressure faced when taking a baby home increasing the parents knowledge, parenting skills confidence and resilience in often adverse circumstance. • Sensory Services – decrease sensory impairments often experienced by preterm babies and improve the overall physical and motor skills development of babies • Community based services including parent support groups and baby massage groups – decrease isolation and improve health outcomes for babies. Overall babies and families benefit from the services which are focused on reducing the impact that having a preterm baby can have on families lives, relationships and their mental and physical health. The charity’s Governing body have also derived benefit by acquiring transferrable skills and experience through governance training. These benefits are incidental and necessary to our purposes. The purpose of our organisation does not lead to harm.
... [more] [less]What your organisation does
TinyLife offers a range of generic and tailored made services to families of premature and sick babies. Each year in Northern Ireland 25,000 babies are born with 10% born prematurely of which 1,800 babies will spend time in a neonatal unit. 80% of babies who die in the first 28 days are premature with 4.7 still births per 1,000 babies born.
Tinylife operates in the area of health and social care providing support to families of premature babies in the neonatal unit, at home and in the community until the baby is 2 years of age. We support research into the causes and effects of having a premature baby and provide education and information for those working with premature babies, parents and schools and communities.
... [more] [less]The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of health or the saving of lives
- The relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage
Who the charity helps
- Parents
- Preschool (0-5 year olds)
- Volunteers
How the charity works
- Advice/advocacy/information
- Disability
- Education/training
- Medical/health/sickness
- Research/evaluation
- Volunteer development
