Dettol and former S Club star are encouraging mums across the UK to ‘keep the memories, not the bacteria’ in new campaign.

Rachel Stevens- 'keep the memories, not the bacteria’ campaign

Dettol has teamed up with celebrity mum, Rachel Stevens, to launch the Dettol Baby Blanket Donation charity campaign by donating the first blanket to the cause.

The campaign aims to promote the dangers of bacteria on blankets and highlight the shortage of baby blankets available to infants born to disadvantaged families. 

You can donate a blanket via Freepost and share your special recollections and photographs of your babies blanket on social media.  Once collected, the baby blankets will be hygienically washed with Dettol Anti-bacterial Laundry Cleanser before being re-distributed by Dettol to families in need. 

Dettol Anti-bacterial Laundry Cleanser has also pledged to donate £1 for every blanket collected to children’s medical research charity, Sparks, to raise much needed funds for UK families with children who are affected by serious illness or disability.

Every minute of every day, approximately 50 babies are born into poverty and will experience conditions lacking basic essentials including hygienically clean blankets.  Poor hygiene conditions can contribute to illnesses such as diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration.

Laboratory tests commissioned by Dettol - on washed blankets donated by volunteer mums - show that baby ‘blankies’ carry a variety of bacteria even after a 40°C wash with a third of the washed blankets harbouring coliforms – a group of bacteria linked to faeces. Dettol is hoping to raise awareness of this research as well as donate much needed funds to support children’s health.

Rachel commented: “The Dettol Baby Blanket Donation really resonated with me as a mum. I remember bringing my girls home for the first time in theirs and what a special time that was.  Many babies across the world will never get the chance to experience the comfort of a warm, clean blanket.  That’s the reason why I’m supporting the campaign, asking mums to donate blankets to those in need so that those babies don’t miss out.”

Zillah Bingley, Chief Executive at Sparks, said: “We’re delighted to be part of this exciting campaign. By working together with Dettol we can make sure more children are born healthy and stay healthy. One in 30 babies in the UK is born with a condition which may affect them for life. Yet, each year less than £10 per child is spent on research into children’s health. Sparks funds pioneering research to change this. Our medical breakthroughs improve the health of thousands of children but this is only possible thanks to the generous support of individuals and families across the UK.”


Blanket donations will be collected until the end of December.  Memories can be shared with @DettolBlanket #sharethememories or on Dettol’s Mission for Health Facebook page. For full details on how to donate visit www.dettol.co.uk/donate

 

by for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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