Our Chosen Christmas Charity 2025
At the end of every year we ask our head office staff to nominate a charity that they would like to support at Christmas. This year we were inundated with worthy nominations. Please read on to find out more about this year's Christmas charity...
Why Bliss (for babies born premature or sick) Matters
Our Head of People and Culture, Emily Hunter, put forward Bliss, a charity that means a lot to her. She has very kindly shared her family's story on why Bliss is especially important:
In 2020, during the height of the global pandemic, I was pregnant with my first child. Like many expectant parents at that time, it was an incredibly uncertain and isolating experience. Professionally, I was HR Manager at Rapid Clean, helping our 1000 staff navigate site closures, furlough, and the unknowns of COVID-19.
As the months went on, my pregnancy became high-risk. I attended appointments alone, received difficult news without support, and couldn’t see family or friends, like many others. At 31 weeks, I was admitted to hospital in early labour. Doctors hoped to keep the baby until 34 weeks, but little CJ arrived at 32 weeks, weighing just 3 lbs (1.3 kg). He was immediately taken to neonatal intensive care.
Because of COVID restrictions, I didn’t meet him until six hours after birth. Our first visit lasted around 30 minutes. After that, we had to call reception in the morning and ‘book’ short time slots each day, arriving in full PPE, even though I was still an inpatient myself. For most of the time, CJ was alone in his incubator, cared for by amazing nurses doing their best under strict distancing rules. He remained in hospital for five more weeks.
As CJ grew stronger and moved to lower dependency care, we were allowed longer visits, but under strict conditions. We had particular visiting hours, couldn’t leave once inside our neonatal cubical, couldn’t arrive together, and had no access to basic facilities like a kitchen or vending machine. Along with feeding CJ through a tube, his various desaturations and generally recovering from childbirth myself, in a global pandemic - it was exhausting and emotionally overwhelming.
This is where Bliss made a difference. Bliss is the UK’s leading charity for babies born premature or sick. They campaign for better neonatal care and parental access, and provide practical and emotional support to families during the most challenging times. Their resources helped me understand how to care for a premature baby, and their trained volunteers offered emotional support when I felt completely lost. Even after CJ came home, still under lockdown, Bliss continued to provide guidance and connection, ensuring families like mine never feel alone.
Today, CJ is thriving, and I will always be grateful for the role Bliss played in our journey. Their work campaigning for parental rights, funding research, and supporting families, is vital. I’m really pleased that Rapid Clean is making a Christmas donation to Bliss. Every contribution helps them continue their mission to give vulnerable babies the best possible start in life, while supporting their families when we need it most.
