Best Beginnings Blog http://www.bestbeginnings.org.ukBest Beginnings is a charity dedicated to ending child health inequalities in the UK.60<![CDATA[ A spring in our step! ]]>
Last week I was in the recording studio with the marvellous Nimmy March, who has done the voiceover for our upcoming 'Small wonders' DVD. The DVD will help parents of sick and premature babies be at the heart of their baby's care and I was touched by Nimmy's support for the project and speedy professionalism in the studio. The voiceover files are now with the sound editor before we combine them with the film images and get it sent off to the authoring house and then the duplication house. Three years work finally coming to fruition!

Whilst in the studio, Nimmy also re-recorded the voiceover for the 'From bump to breastfeeding' DVD. The script has been reviewed by a group of healthcare professionals, including a representative from UNICEF Baby Friendly, and a few tweaks have brought it up to date with recent infant feeding developments. The new commentary versi... ]]>Wed, 16 May 2012 21:51:00 GMT<![CDATA[ 2012: a flying start ]]>
Our 2010-11 Trustees' report & Accounts have been published not only in a gorgeous print version created in-house but also in a state-of-the-art online version. Heartfelt thanks to Jinne Stiksma and Andrew Nash from OpenUmbrella for their pro bono creation. You can check out both versions by clicking here. I am really pleased with the figures - our income grew by 24.2% on last year's figure and our expenditure on charitable activity also reached an all time high at 86.6%. This is due to a lot of very hard work by the team here at Best Beginnings and our wonderful network of supporters. I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to all of you for going that extra mile for UK babies.

As many people may have heard, we are working on a series of mobile apps to support mums and dad... ]]>Tue, 15 May 2012 21:13:59 GMT<![CDATA[ 2012 is on its way ]]>
The Small Wonders pilot is in the process of being printed right now and will be piloted in several hospitals throughout December. This 3-year labour of love is nearing completion and we are so grateful to everyone who has been involved, from funders to stakeholders. Watch this space for news of the spring launch.

Best Beginnings Policy & Development Manager Susi Farnworth and I were at the 2011 Royal College of Midwives Annual Conference in November along with the Get Britain Breastfeeding Art Exhibition. I was thrilled to give a presentation on Small Wonders along with Best Beginnings trustee Francesca Entwistle. Thank to RCM for another excellent conference, we look forward to 2012.

The Big Give is approaching. For those o... ]]>Thu, 03 May 2012 19:32:34 GMT<![CDATA[ Autumn blog ]]>
At the end of August, we welcomed our new Policy & Development Manager Susi Farnworth. Susi comes to us with a wealth of experience in the third sector and has hit the ground running in our fast-moving office environment.

We held a successful ladies luncheon at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Chelsea. We would like to thank all who attended including the parents of sick and premature babies, whose heart moving stories helped to raise vital funds for our Small Wonders project.

Our Small Wonders project continues to move forward. The evaluation work has begun and we have already reached 50% of our target of 300 Small Wonders champions.

The ... ]]>Sun, 13 May 2012 02:46:07 GMT<![CDATA[ Summer season blog ]]>
Our Small Wonders project has seen a lot of important developments. The robust tendering process to find a unit in which to run Best Beginnings' “Small Wonders Practitioner, Parent, Champions Project” was successful. The opportunity was won by Liverpool Women's Hospital where a full-time band 7 nurse in the role of Practitioner Champion will be implemented in the neonatal unit for up to 3 years. The success of this pilot project in Liverpool will lay the foundations for a rollout to neonatal units across the country.

Rough cuts of the 6 films that make up the Small Wonders DVD have been viewed by over 200 experts. We are very grateful for their invaluable input and feedback. In late June, over 50 stakeholders came together for the second Small Wonders Stakeholder event to suggest ways in which ... ]]>Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:13:21 GMT<![CDATA[ Big Society Matters ]]>
We are a small charity committed to having a big impact on child health. In these times of austerity, now, more than ever we need your support, so in this Blog I’m asking you to embrace the ideas of The Big Society and get involved. There are so many ways for you to help, for example you might like to:
  • join Team Best Beginnings for our 10k run on July 10 - click on the link to find out more about the event and to watch a short film featuring TV Presenter Charlie Webster and our other runners last year – we had an absolute blast. Charlie is running with us again and we’d love you to join the team too.
  • become one of our regular donor... ]]>Wed, 16 May 2012 08:57:37 GMT<![CDATA[ 'Is Breast Best?' - a missed opportunity? ]]>'Is Breast Best'.  

    Here is a punchy popular culture take on breastfeeding.  Breastfeeding is sadly incredibly unpopular amongst young families in the UK despite the real benefits for mothers and babies. 

    In ‘Is Breast Best?’  Cherry Healey Investigates’ highlighted a number of the issues around breastfeeding that Best Beginnings has been working to address since the child health charity was founded in 2006; the many teenage mothers who feel like breastfeeding isn’t for them, the embarrassment that many women feel about breastfeeding in public and the challenges of achieving your right to express breastmilk when returning to work are all very real problems which we are plea... ]]>    Tue, 15 May 2012 13:52:03 GMT    <![CDATA[ Leaping into spring ]]>As ever, there’s been lots happening here at Best Beginnings. Last week we received some excellent news: we have successfully secured funding for an evaluation of Small Wonders. This means that we are able to employ a full time professional at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and Kings College Hospital to oversee the implementation and evaluation of a change programme towards more family-centered care using the Small Wonders DVD as a key resource.

    This week we launched the next stage of the Small Wonders project at an exclusive lunch at the delightful Cheyne Walk Brasserie in Chelsea. Here some supporters were able to meet parents o... ]]>Fri, 11 May 2012 04:26:03 GMT<![CDATA[ January 2011 Blog ]]>As ever, time doesn’t stand still at Best Beginnings and we’ve kicked off 2011 at a pace. We’re working to improve the website and will soon be launching a new site that’s more accessible and increases the breadth of our offering. The site navigation will be clearer and hopefully you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for more easily.

     

    Our new staff member Dr Liz Kirk, is settling in well and is already making her mark on the organisation. She’s been developing a series of films that focuses on baby communication and you can watch these here as well as read her tips for encouraging baby communication through songs and play.  

     

    We’ve also just had the first meeting of our volunteer policy and communications experts and we’re delighted to have them on board. With backgrounds spanning nursing, marketing and commun... ]]>Thu, 10 May 2012 22:58:17 GMT<![CDATA[ An Important Update ]]>in this news article.

    I want to use this blog though to celebrate some successes and unusually ask you not to donate (not just yet anyway). 

    Work is continuing apace on our Small Wonders project, with filming progressing well. We’re currently working with 12 families in eight neonatal units across the country. The first rough cuts of the film should be ready for our Stakeholders to see in spring 2011. If you are the parent of a prematu... ]]>    Tue, 08 May 2012 22:00:21 GMT    <![CDATA[ A brief Autumn message ]]>Can it really be six weeks since we got back from Paris? A lot has happened since then with our upcoming projects and also with our existing projects. I’ll be posting again in the next week or two with a more detailed update when a few key deadlines have passed. Today I am simply touching-base to let you know a couple of things.

    Firstly, I want to let you know that our 2009-2010 Illustrated Accounts and Trustees’ Report are now finished. Click here to find out more and to download a copy. A big thank you to Lee Hall, our Operations Manager, for designing them for us. I’m sure you’ll agree he has done a fantastic job.  I would also like to thank all of you who supp... ]]>    Thu, 10 May 2012 20:21:55 GMT    <![CDATA[ Back in the saddle ]]>
    Today’s my first day back in the office following my epic London to Paris cycle ride with Team Best Beginnings. It was a tough physical challenge for the whole team and all the more so for me being less fit and less lucky than many. I was stung by a bee on day one, had a flat tyre on day two but reached the Eiffel Tower 186 miles later on day three!

    I want to take a moment to publicly thank my fantastic teammates, all 16 of them. The team was a wonderful combination of experienced healthcare professionals, up and coming actors and other dedicated professionals. We laughed, cried and sang together and got each other through it, all confident in the knowledge that we were doing it to raise vital funds for Best Beginnings.

    A huge thank you to everyone w... ]]>    Fri, 11 May 2012 01:49:44 GMT    <![CDATA[ The final countdown! ]]>As ever, it has been an extremely busy period with project and policy work. Highlights of the last month include a full day spent with Jacqui Smith, the producer/director and project manager for the Small Wonders project, and a half a day spent at Queen Charlotte’s hospital meeting with leading clinicians and allied healthcare professionals about the progress of the project.

    I have been arriving at all my meetings somewhat hotter and sweatier than would normally be expected of a CEO, but for good reason: in September I am cycling from London to Paris to raise vital funds for Best Beginnings and I am taking every opportunity to sneak in training rides. Almost every time I have to get to the same place as a colleague who is travelling by public transpor... ]]>    Sat, 12 May 2012 01:23:08 GMT    <![CDATA[ Running and Parliament ]]>myself and Dr Judith Meek and Charlie Webster and MP Graham Allen.

    Here’s a short film about the day:


    Since I last wrote, Charlie has been interviewed by talkSPORT in Richmond Park. You can see the interview below. Be warned, there’s a lot about football – Charlie’s a massive Sheffield United fan – but she does mention our London to Paris bike ride at the end. And s... ]]>    Sat, 12 May 2012 20:51:19 GMT    <![CDATA[ National Breastfeeding Week ]]>It’s been an incredibly busy few weeks since I wrote my last blog. There is a lot to update you on, so I’ll try and keep each bit brief.

    First, we had our official office launch. Actor Leon Ockenden and TV Presenter Charlie Webster kicked off the event with a training session, then actress Celia Imrie gave a lovely speech and cut the ribbon.

    I was so delight... ]]>    Thu, 10 May 2012 21:24:27 GMT    <![CDATA[ Welcome to our new website! ]]>I do hope you like our new website. We’ve taken on board your comments and implemented some great new interactive features so you can get more involved.

    We’ve also embedded videos into many parts of the site, which I think is very unusual for a charity website, especially a charity as small as Best Beginnings.

    We’re celebrating Our Champions – fantastic individuals who are doing amazing things for Best Beginnings. We’ve been able to integrate their fundraising pages into our website. This way more of what you donate is going straight to Best Beginnings and not being siphoned off into admin costs of a third party website.

    I encourage you to sign up, login, give us your feedback and get involved! Together we can radically improve the hea... ]]>    Sat, 14 Apr 2012 08:10:59 GMT