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Note from Sarah Brown

Dear Supporter

Welcome to the PiggyBankKids website.

At PiggyBankKids we want to help as many children as we can: from the vulnerable babies whose lives could be saved with the right scientific breakthroughs, to those young people who have the hardest start in life.  The researchers at the groundbreaking Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory are doing just that; working to solve some of the most devastating pregnancy problems and find better ways to look after premature babies. 

I recently joined Mumsnet during their Big Night In webchat for PiggyBankKids.  Mumsnet are long standing supporters of PiggyBankKids, with co-founder Carrie Longton joining us at our first Training Day last year, when we gathered together all our partnership projects for a day of masterclasses themed around communication.  A short film about the day is now available in our video gallery.  We held a prize draw where two lucky winners won two unique piggybanks - one signed by George Clooney and one signed by Ruth Jones aka Nessa from Gavin and Stacey.
 
Mumsnet will also kindly be donating all monies from members CAT (contact another talker) subscriptions in February and March.  A CAT is a £5 annual fee paid by Mumsnet members so that they can contact each other directly.

The Jennifer Brown Research Fund also supports small innovative community based schemes like the Jennifer Brown Fife Appeal, where local health professionals are encouraged to seek funding for their own community health pilot projects - great ideas that are making a real difference for families that need them most. We also work with some of the best charity leaders in the UK, engaging in some of the most innovative work to help children and young adults otherwise at risk. We support and enhance their expertise with our advice, and last October we gathered everyone together for our first Training Day through our Small Grants programme, and give grants that can be used for core funds – usually the hardest to fundraise for – leaving skilled voluntary sector leaders extra time to do the hands-on work they most want to do, from mentoring programmes to sports provision, children’s cancer care to school-based projects.

We are delighted to welcome Dr Elaine Woodrow, Clinical Research Fellow in Neonatology as she takes up her appointment this month at the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory, and begins her research work on a new partner project to the work of Dr Elizabeth Pilley; both are studying the combined effects of inflammation and prematurity on the brain, one concentrating on the part of the brain which controls movement, and the other on the part of the brain which controls intellect.
 
With thirty one doctors and scientists now directly involved, nineteen of whom have been employed with funding from PiggyBankKids, the work of the laboratory goes from strength to strength.  As Professor Andrew Calder, our Programme Director explains:   The unique aspect of the programme is the parallel pursuit of research in both pregnancy and the neonatal period.  It is already clear that the existence of the laboratory does not simply provide an opportunity for young investigators to join the programme, benefit from the opportunities and then vanish from the scene.  The opposite is already apparent. Nearly everyone has been associated with the programme remains committed to its objectives so that an expanding community continues to contribute to and support the work of the laboratory.  The other element which has become a recurring theme has been that seemingly discrete research projects in the programme have drawn on each other to their mutual benefit.   Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the way our studies of inflammatory mechanisms in preterm labour are harmonising so clearly with the emerging studies of the impact of inflammation on the vulnerable brain of premature neonates.  

To help us with this vital work please donate now.  Just £5 will pay for a pack of centrifuge tubes, and £50 will help pay for half a day of a research midwife’s time supporting mums when they help us with our research.

If you’re weren't able to take part in our Mumnset Big Night In don't forget Easter is coming up; why not host a treasure hunt, charge a small fee, and send us a donation.  We can send you a pack of invitations for your party, and some balloons…. Find out how how to host your own Big Night In.
 
We fund all our programmes from donations from individuals and organisations who feel as passionate as we do about how to make a difference.  So if you would like to help please make a donation or visit our shop.  We can make a little go a very long way.    

Thank you.
With best wishes

Sarah Brown