Wellbeing of Women is setting up a unique Bio Bank dedicated to solving the four main complications of pregnancy: Premature labour; Fetal growth restriction; Pre-eclampsia; and Recurrent Miscarriage. Together, these complications affect at least 82,000 pregnancies a year in the UK. The birth of a baby is one of life’s happiest moments but for families affected by serious complications of pregnancy, happiness can turn into tragedy. All four of these complications have a huge emotional impact and place a significant cost burden on the National Health Service.

Research by the project leaders shows that these complications, long thought to be unrelated, are actually very likely to be connected by underlying genetic causes. The only way to verify this and to identify the causes is to collect thousands of DNA samples and case histories from affected mums, dads and babies, as well as from normal pregnancies for comparison. This will be the most detailed ‘whole family’ study to be undertaken anywhere in the world to date. The Baby Bio Bank will be based at The Institute of Child Health at University College London and St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College London.

"The Mothercare Group Foundation is supporting the first senior research nurse on the Baby Bio Bank, with three donations totalling almost £97,000."

£41,554
Childhood stroke is an under-recognised but significant cause of mortality and disability in children. However, relatively little is known about what causes stroke in children. Evidence suggests that certain factors that may impact on the developing brain during foetal life, and early childhood may have a link to the risk of developing disease in the brain at a later stage, but as yet, there has been no in-depth research into these factors in relation to childhood stroke. This project will investigate whether certain perinatal (at the time of birth), prenatal (pregnancy) and early childhood factors may have a link to developing stroke in childhood years. The Mothercare Group Foundation is funding the total cost of the project with a donation of £41,554.

www.stroke.org.uk/

The Department of Paediatrics at the University of Cambridge and Mothercare Group Foundation: Providing a healthy future for our children

Throughout our lives, our bodies are exposed to thousands of chemicals in the environment. The Cambridge Baby Growth Study, a long-term research project undertaken by the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Cambridge, indicates that some of these substances can be extremely harmful to babies and young children, affecting their development in the womb and introducing a risk of serious health problems in later life.

Over 2000 families have participated in the study to date, giving generously of their time and co-operation, including completing questionnaires, and providing samples and measurements for scientific analysis. Over 6500 biological samples have been collected and 2700 questionnaires completed to date.

Results have begun to yield valuable and unique information. For example, the study has shown that the condition of undescended testes in boys has increased more than three-fold in the UK since the 1950s, and far more is being learnt about how babies grow in early life, and exactly what is healthy nutrition and weight gain. Also, data collected from blood spot samples is being used to establish markers that reflect the chemicals that infants and children are exposed to.

These and further results from the study have begun, and will continue, to inform policy makers at the highest level of the measures to be taken if the risk to babies and young children of exposure to potentially harmful chemicals is to be reduced. In this way, the research is leading directly to improved welfare for the unborn child and for infants during their early development.

Mothercare Group Foundation’s support, totalling £90,000, has been invaluable in sustaining the contact with and involvement of participating families, without which the study would not be yielding such wide ranging and longitudinal results.

The MGF has donated £15,000 towards a study into the causes of birth defects and unexplained pregnancy loss.

The genetics unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital see 15-20 children a week, who are born with abnormalities that may cause a number of life-limiting and life-threatening problems later in life. In many cases, we can carry out tests – e.g. for Down’s syndrome or cystic fibrosis – that explain what causes these problems and what is likely to happen to the affected child or developing baby. However in a significant number of cases no explanation is found.

This study is using state-of-the-art technology to try and find out the genetic basis of these underlying problems. Having detected any genetic abnormalities before birth, we will then find out what happens to these babies as they develop and grow after birth. The number of children we see and the complexity of the conditions we treat gives us a unique opportunity to engage in ground-breaking research that could benefit children all over the UK and internationally.

WellChild’s Helping Hands is a unique scheme that manages teams of volunteers to undertake one-off home improvement projects for families caring for a seriously ill child or young person with complex care needs. The MGF has made two donations of £10,000 to support this scheme in 2010 and 2011.

Many of these families find that jobs such as decorating stay at the bottom of the list because when you are caring for a very sick child there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

The scheme offers practical support to the families by undertaking projects that they simply do not have the time or manpower to undertake, resulting in a genuinely positive impact on their day to day lives and an environment more suited to the child’s needs.

We are very grateful to Mothercare for supporting WellChild and the Helping Hands programme; your support has meant we have been able to complete and plan more projects this year than ever before, making a huge difference for those families who came to us for help.

Volunteer Reading Help inspires children to become confident and literate for life through the sustained support of trained reading helpers. Our vision is a nation of confident children, literate for life.

Most of us take reading for granted (especially if you are visiting this page, using the internet). But reading is not a natural reflex, it's a learned skill, and some of us take longer to learn it than others. Those that can't pick it up with the rest of their peers learn to hide their difficulties. The inability to read is a life-impairing reality for 24% of adults estimated to have poor literacy (Basic Skills Agency). Pupils who can't read can often become demotivated, depressed, and all too often drift into bad behaviour and sometimes worse, crime and exclusion.

At VRH we tackle the problem in its infancy. We work to support children who find reading a struggle because we believe that literacy is the gateway into all that life has to offer. Without literacy skills children face a lifetime of social exclusion. We have found that an hour of individual dedicated, positive time each week can:

• change a child's perception of their ability
• ensure improved achievement in the classroom
• improve their social interaction with others
• develop better motivation towards learning generally
• cut down levels of truancy

Early intervention helps. The VRH formula is very simple. We bring together children who need support and adults with patience, time to give and a love of reading and learning. We train the adults for their task, resource them with books and game boxes and support them throughout their volunteering with us. Everyone gains - the child and the reading helpers. And many of the children we help develop a life-long love of books too.

The MGF has donated almost £10,000 to VRH towards its Reach Out And Read (ROAR) training programme, providing parents with the advice, skills, guidance and assistance they need to be successful literacy coaches at home.

The MGF has donated £5,000 towards the first Bliss Nurse, who will focus on improving the care given to families of sick and premature babies across the South West London Neonatal Network. The latest research indicates that involving parents in caring for their babies at an early stage can improve outcomes for both babies and families, but a shortage of resources means that few neonatal units consistently provide opportunities for them to do so. The Bliss Nurse will not have a clinical role - they will work directly with families whose babies have been admitted, and ensure that the unit and their wider network are implementing high quality family-centred care. If it proves successful, we hope to create a network of at least 28 Bliss Nurses across the UK by 2020.

Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK is a charity with a single purpose - granting magical wishes to children and young people aged 3-17 fighting life-threatening illnesses. Make-A-Wish has granted more than 7,000 magical wishes over 25 years.

Over 20,000 children in the UK are living with a life-threatening illness, a figure validated by research commissioned by Make-A-Wish. At a human level, we believe few things can be more important, or more deserving, than giving a seriously ill child the chance to have their wish come true, with all the hope, expectation and happiness that brings.

For many families the Make-A-Wish memory can be the last happy memory they have of their child having fun in a magical world, surrounded by family and friends - rather than memories of days and weeks of painful treatments and hospitalisation. The memory of the wish may be of their child laughing and enjoying being a princess or zoo keeper for the day or meeting a favourite celebrity. In years to come, the family can look back and remember that special time.

The Mothercare Group Foundation was delighted to donate £4,000 to Make-A-Wish, to grant a very special wish for a child, giving them and their family a truly wonderful memory.

S.C.C.T. is a national registered charity set up to help alleviate the pain, suffering and financial burden of families who have children suffering from brittle bone disease, bone cancer, scoliosis, arthritis, and all other conditions of the bone.

The charity has now been registered for nine years, which gives us years of experience in our field. This experience has allowed us to assist children and their families with guidance on how to make their conditions more manageable and enhance their quality of life to an optimum level.

Our aims are to take children out of social isolation and give them the ability to participate in every day life. We also relieve the families' financial burden whilst they come to the realisation that their child has a long-term incurable disability that will have a life changing impact on the whole family.

The MGF's donation of £2,500 will help to pay for specialist equipment for children with bone diseases and conditions, enabling greater mobility and comfort.

KIDS is a charity which, in its 40 years, has pioneered a number of approaches and programmes for disabled children and young people. These include Home Learning (Portage), Parent Partnerships, Adventure Playgrounds and the inclusion of disabled children in mainstream settings. KIDS wishes to build on this history to meet the needs and aspirations of a new generation of disabled children, young people and their families. In doing this, KIDS will become one of the leading charities in developing both the thinking and services that create an inclusive world for disabled children, young people and their families.

The Mothercare Group Foundation has recently donated £5,000 towards the KIDS Home Learning service, in addition to three previous donations of £5,000 each to fund specialist play equipment and arts and crafts materials for their adventure playgrounds across London.

KIDS' director of fundraising Helen Mitchell said: "KIDS is delighted to once again be a beneficiary of the Mothercare Foundation. Your wonderful ongoing support has meant we have been able to reach more families of disabled children in need."

Tommy's is a national charity which provides information, care and support to pregnant women through medical research and information provision.

We have three research centres based in London, Manchester and Edinburgh where Tommy's research teams work to deliver successful research projects to identify tests to predict pregnancy risks and provide the appropriate treatments and care programmes for mums most at risk. Tommy's translates these findings into information and support for families through our Pregnancy Information Services, which include our freephone Pregnancy Line staffed by trained midwives, and information guides such as 'Tommy's Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy'.

The MGF is delighted to be supporting Tommy's with a donation of £10,000 towards the ongoing work at their new Stillbirth Research Centre in Manchester

"I would like to thank Mothercare Foundation for their generous support of this important work. We must prevent other parents from suffering such heartache". Jane Brewin, Chief Executive, Tommy's.

Watford Mencap supports over 500 children and adults in the Watford and South West Herts area who have a learning disability. We offer a range of services including advice and advocacy, residential homes, community support, leisure activities and children's services. Although the Charity is affiliated to national Mencap, it does not receive funding from them and is an independent local organisation. In 2011 Watford Mencap celebrates its Diamond Jubilee, having supported people with a learning disability, their parents and carers for 60 years. The Chairman of Watford Borough Council has chosen Watford Mencap as one of her two charities for 2011/12.

The trustees of the Mothercare Group Foundation are delighted to be supporting Watford Mencap's Afterschool Club as a highly valued local service for children and young people with a learning disability. It provides a safe and reassuring environment in which they can socialise, play games, develop new skills, or simply relax - at the same time providing much-needed respite for families."