HCSA Charity of the Year
Rainbow Trust Children's Charity
HCSA Charity of the Year 2026
Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity supports families who have a child aged 0-18 years with a life threatening or terminal illness.
Serious childhood illness can happen to anyone. Families facing this reality are everywhere; every culture, every background, every community. And when it does, they need more than medical care.
About Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity
For 40 years, Rainbow Trust has stood alongside families facing the unimaginable, caring for a terminally ill child. In the darkest and most uncertain moments of their lives Rainbow Trust has been a lifeline, offering not just practical help but deep emotional support that wraps around the entire family.
Rainbow Trust pairs each family with an expert Family Support Worker who enables them to make the most of time together, giving them practical and emotional support, whenever they need it, for as long as is needed.
Our support is flexible, responsive and built around the unique needs of each child and their loved ones. From hospital visits and school runs to sitting in silence or holding space for grief, Rainbow Trust is there in homes, in hospitals, and in hearts across the country. For more information, visit www.rainbowtrust.org.uk
Meet Bea
Bea was rushed to A&E with heart failure when she was 15 months old. She would remain there for 14 months attached to a mechanical heart (Berlin Heart), which kept her alive while she waited for a suitable heart donor.
After that first night in A&E, Bea’s mum, Cheryl, did not return home for 16 weeks. She stayed in hospital accommodation to be close to Bea, while Terry, Bea’s dad, would go home at 7pm and return at 7am.
A hospital social worker referred Bea’s family to Rainbow Trust and Family Support Worker, Monica, started working with the family in Spring 2022.
Cheryl and Terry said: “Monica’s support has been invaluable. She has been spot on with all of us in different ways. She was able to come into hospital and the bond she built with Bea was incredible. She is like family. We wouldn’t have coped without Rainbow Trust. When all is overwhelming, impossible to manage, feeling that there is no light, a Family Support Worker like Monica can help.”
Read Bea's full story here.
Making a difference
Your donations will help open windows of support for seriously ill children and their families, ensuring they receive the care, compassion and help they urgently need.
The support offered is hugely varied and depends on the needs of the family. It can include:
• listening to a family’s fears and anxieties • helping to explain illnesses, diagnoses and treatments • keeping a seriously ill child company during hospital stays • driving families to medical appointments to help save time and money • organising fun activities to help sick children, their brothers and sisters • support through bereavement and grief.
The impact of the support offered is always significant, and with the support from HCSA, Rainbow Trust can ensure that no family faces serious childhood illness alone.
Donating any amount over the year really adds up. Your contributions make an impact:
£32 would pay for an hour’s practical and emotional support for a family caring for a seriously ill child, helping them make the most of their precious time.
£112 pays for half a day of support for a frightened and confused sibling.
£768 could fund six months of weekly bereavement support for a family. The support is from an expert Family Support Worker who has often known the family from diagnosis to bereavement. This continuity is invaluable.
£2,000 is the average cost of support for a family with a seriously ill child for a year.
Rainbow Trust receives no government funding and so we rely on partnerships like this one with HCSA. Thank you for helping us to make a difference.
Initiatives for 2026
In 2026, Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity proudly celebrates 40 years of transforming lives, that's four decades of providing vital emotional and practical support to families with a seriously ill child.
We are excited to tell HCSA more about our work and look forward to attending key events throughout the year.
Jenny is your primary contact and if you would like to have a chat about ways you can support Rainbow Trust in this milestone year as HCSA Members, please do reach out to jenny.evans@rainbowtrust.org.uk – Tel: 01372 220016.
Tom Plater - Chair
Following graduating from Swansea University with an economics degree, Tom started off his NHS career at the Royal Berkshire Hospital as a receptionist at eye casualty during the summer of 2020 during the Covid19 pandemic. He ended the year working as a senior business analyst at RUH Bath before embarking on a Masters in Management with Henley Business School. He then decided to return to the NHS to join Guys and St Thomas to undergo a sourcing manager apprenticeship in 2022, before being promoted to a sourcing manager in the summer of 2023. In 2023, Tom participated in the HCSA procurement development programme and was delighted to be honoured with the Lord Phillip Hunt Award as the best overall candidate. Armed with an optimistic spirit, he eagerly anticipates immersing himself in his role and contributing to the success of the HCSA.
Gaadha Jayaprakash - Deputy Chair
Deputy Chair
After graduating with an MBA from Sheffield Hallam University in Dec 2023, I began my NHS career in 2024 as Coordinator of the Infectious Diseases Department at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. This role gave me early insight into the operational and clinical environment of the NHS and sparked my interest in procurement and system improvement.
I now work with NHS Supply Chain as the Implementation and Adoption Manager for South of England, supporting NHS trusts with the delivery and adoption of National Programmes and initiatives. My role involves working closely with trusts to support implementation, engagement and continuous improvement across the system.
In 2025, I participated in the HCSA Procurement Development Programme (PDP) which further strengthened my interest in leadership development within the profession. I now serve as Deputy Chair of the HCSA Future Leaders Network.
Through the Future Leaders Network, I am focused on creating opportunities for learning, collaboration and leadership development while ensuring early career professionals have a voice in shaping the future of NHS procurement.
Kimberley Kay
Kimberley Kay is a procurement professional working within the NHS, currently specialising in Healthcare Services and Pharmacy as a Category Manager at NOE CPC.
Since joining the NHS in 2020, she has progressed rapidly through several roles including Logistics Operative, E-Procurement Buyer, IT Procurement Assistant, Procurement Specialist, Procurement Manager, and Category Procurement Specialist. Her career journey reflects a strong commitment to professional development, collaboration, and delivering value.
In 2024, she completed the HCSA PDP and won the prestigious Lord Philip Hunt Award. The award recognises her dedication to learning, leadership potential, and contribution to the future of NHS procurement.
As a member of the HCSA Future Leaders Network, she is passionate about representing the next generation of NHS procurement professionals. She believes that future leadership within the NHS means embracing collaboration and diversity, championing ethical procurement, and driving strategic change that strengthens healthcare systems for patients, staff, and communities.
Michelle McCann
Chair
Michelle McCann, Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP)
Michelle McCann oversees the strategic direction for Sustainability, Social Value and Innovation at NHS LPP. She is responsible for leading the approach across NHS member trusts and Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in London to enable them to support sustainability initiatives that will positively contribute to the delivery of NHS Net Zero target by 2040, and embed, track and measure social value in procurement activity to maximise the impact achieved for local communities.
Michelle is dedicated to educating and inspiring all to live greener. She specialises in engagement with stakeholders and customers by taking a collaborative approach – using appropriate consultation blended with defining practical needs. Working closely with London ICBs, anchor institutions, NHS London, the London Estates Delivery Board and others, in early 2022, she helped deliver a pan-London Social Value Tool for ICBs which is now tracking and reporting on the Social Value commitments made by suppliers through the procurement process, against the Social Value priorities for the region.
Prior to this, in addition to her role as Category Director for NHS LPP’s Estates, Facilities and Professional Services category, Michelle embedded a keen and growing interest in Sustainability and Social Value amongst staff, through the ‘Greener LPP’ initiative, which features regular campaigns and challenges to keep the topics at front of mind for staff.
Michelle has over 25 years’ experience working within public sector Estates teams. Before joining NHS LPP, she was Head of Procurement, Estates Contracts and Finance at Goldsmiths, University of London and prior to that worked as the Strategic Planning Manager in the Estates team at the Medical Research Council’s head office.
Clare Nash
Deputy Chair
Clare is a critical care nurse by trade and has been a clinical procurement nurse with a side order of sustainability since 2018.
She loves speaking about her favourite topic to anyone that will listen and supports the embedding of sustainability into nursing and midwifery care pathways through better product choices.