Soothing the Smallest with Sudocrem x Ickle Pickles (+ giveaway!)

Every year, 1 in 8 babies are born prematurely or unwell, that's 100,000 babies every single year. These babies need to spend weeks, sometimes months in neonatal care units before they are strong enough to leave. Neonatal intensive care costs the NHS £1,500 per day and many hospitals do not have the equipment to care for extremely preterm babies. My own son was seven weeks premature and spent a week in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit then a week in the Special Care Baby Unit and I could not be more grateful for the care that we received.

My Ickle Sudocrem from SatellitePR on Vimeo.

This summer, Sudocrem and premature baby charity Ickle Pickles are teaming up to raise funds for the vital neonatal equipment premature babies so desperately need. In honour of the partnership a new, limited edition pot of 'My Ickle Sudocrem' has been created and will be sold in Boots and Tesco stores across the UK for six weeks from the 26th August. With each sale of the 'Ickle Pot', 50p will be donated to the Ickle Pickles charity. An historic event for the brand, Sudocrem have never before adapted their classic packaging for a charity campaign such as this.

A typical ventilator costs £25,000, the equivalent of 50,000 little pots. While this may sound like a lot, Sudocrem have enlisted the help of Laura Tobin, the nation's favourite weather presenter, and Georgia Jones, creator of the BUMP YouTube channel and wife to Danny Jones, to spread the word and give the campaign that extra push. Both Laura and Georgia hold the cause close to their hearts: Laura's daughter was born prematurely, as was Georgia's niece. The pair will be doing their utmost to raise awareness of how the public can get involved at home.

Laura says, "No parent should be separated from their child at such a worrying time, which is often what happens when their local hospital doesn't have the right neonatal equipment. Ickle Pickles are a fabulous charity and the more money we can raise for them, the better. It's thanks to the equipment they're fundraising for that Charlotte is the healthy, happy baby she is today."

"When Sudocrem approached me to be involved with Soothing the Smallest, I was delighted. A lot of the work I do is about raising awareness around parenting issues - the good, the bad and the messy - so the campaign was just a natural fit for me," says Georgia Jones. "I'll be doing my best to support it for the duration!"

How can you get involved?

Most importantly, buy a 'My Ickle Sudocrem' pot from your local Boots or Tesco! Every purchase means 50p to Ickle Pickles.

Who said only teddy bears have picnics?

Soothing the Smallest launches with a nationwide panda-themed picnic. Inspired by the UK's love of picnics, plus taking into account necessary precautions of lockdown, Georgia and Laura will kick it all off by launching their own panda picnic to show us how it's done. Those who want to get involved only have to pack up their picnic baskets and head out to the nearest patch of green for some relaxation - and don't forget to bring a panda too. Share the picnic on social media, tagging #soothingthesmallest and who knows? Perhaps a new record will be set for the most panda picnics held in one day! You also have the chance to win a giant panda and picnic hamper if you share your picnics on social media with #soothingthesmallest and #pandapicnic

I'm giving away 3 panda cuddly toys to help out families who don't have a panda of their very own. Laura, Georgia and Sudocrem will also be giving some away on their social media. With the aim to get as many families out there picnicking, Ickle Pickles charity founder, Rachael Marsh suggests inviting another family along for a suggested donation of £5 to the Ickle Pickles JustGiving page. Social distancing rules apply, of course!

"At Sudocrem, we take soothing families extremely seriously, which is why we're so excited about the upcoming Soothing the Smallest campaign. After all, isn't is these tiny, premature babies and their families that need our help the most?" says Nick Lang, head of OTC marketing at Sudocrem. "The aim is to raise enough over the six weeks to be able to help Ickle Pickles in a meaningful way."

"Spreading the word is easy," Nick continues. "We're asking everyone to get involved in whatever way they can. Share details of Soothing the Smallest on Instagram, visit the Sudocrem website and, most importantly, support the campaign by purchasing one of the 'My Ickle Sudocrem' pots."

To be in with a chance of winning 1 of 3 cuddly pandas, just enter via the Gleam widget below.

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