Rainbow Trust is a charity that provides emotional and practical support to families in England who have a seriously ill child. The charity is based in Leatherhead in Surrey and has nine teams operating across the English regions. Founded in 1986, the Trust has 100 employees and 350 volunteers. Its annual income is £5.1m.

Rainbow Trust was created by Surrey woman Bernadette Cleary who started the charity after she helped two close friends through the terminal illnesses of their children and realised the tremendous strain such families were under. Since then around 12,500 families have been helped. The charity supports families with children aged 0-18 years and they can receive support from the moment of their child’s diagnosis.

The charity has offices in Leatherhead, Durham and Manchester and nine teams of family support workers - in Central London, County Durham, Essex, Manchester, Southampton, Surrey, Swindon and West London.

When a referral or request for help is received, a team manager visits the family to assess their needs. Assistance may include providing transport to medical appointments, practical help in the home such as cooking, sitting with the sick child to provide the parents with a break or taking out siblings. In 2014/15, the charity supported 1,958 families, 16% more than in the previous year.

2014/15 also saw the Trust launch new drop-in groups around the country for families to meet others in the same boat. New groups for parents and bereaved siblings also provided opportunities for friendship, support and respite. In 2015, the Trust’s first Neonatal Support Worker was appointed and they helped 37 families in total.

The charity also has extended its hospital in-reach service to Cumbria, Durham, Manchester and Swindon. This service provides important information, advocacy and sign-posting to families during their child’s stay in hospital, regardless of whether they are likely to require the ongoing support of the charity’s family support workers.

Rainbow Trust’s strategy is to continually review existing care and explore new geographical areas for expansion. It also plans to focus on donor acquisition and major donor income and invest in the management and leaderships skills of its staff.

Corporate partnerships are a major part of the Trust’s strategy and partners have included Deutsche Bank, Hanover Dairies, clothing retailer Evans and investment manager, Invesco Perpetual.

The Trust prioritises flexible working, family friendly policies and offers numerous internships. In 2016, Rainbow Trust was named by the Sunday Times as one of the best 100 not for profit organisations to work for.