The Neonatal Trust has recently been renamed the Little Miracles Trust. However, the name is all that’s changed. The not-for-profit still exists to support parents and whanau who have been thrust into the world of Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICU) or Special Care Baby Units (SCBU) with their premature or unwell babies.

So why the change? Research had shown low awareness with the general public of the Neonatal Trust brand. Which meant the financial support the charity relies on through donations has been low.

To combat this, a whole new name and identity was created to give the Trust a real emotional connection to the amazing work they do. The more people understand who the Trust is and what it does, the more likely they are to support it financially.

Every year in New Zealand, over 5,000 babies are born prematurely. Some arrive as early as 23 weeks old and can weigh as little as 500 grams. It’s an incredibly stressful time for the parents, which is why the Little Miracles Trust is there to help out.

To tell the story of the new name, the Little Miracles Trust enlisted the support of well-known radio personalities and prem baby parents, Sharyn & Bryce Casey. Bryce summed it up by saying, “They perform little miracles every day for the parents and for the whānau who are going through what’s an incredibly tough time.”

For Sharyn, it was those daily little miracles that made a real difference to what was an incredibly stressful time. “There’s things that you wouldn’t even think of. Like the day you arrive in the NICU, they drop off a care package full of things that you need. They help you with a breast pump, they have all these incredible resources and they even give you books for your children at home, if you have them, on how to explain what’s going on. They gave me a green tea bag when I was having a bad day. Just so many things. Their support was just indescribable.”

Rachel Friend, CEO for the Little Miracles Trust, said she’s really excited to see the rebrand and the story coming to life. “If we can grow as a charity, we can support even more whānau. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”

If you’d like to donate, simply head to littlemiraclestrust.org.nz and hit the ‘donate now’ button.

© Scoop Media