1971
The Lullaby Trust was originally formed as The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID). Following the death of baby Martin Charles de Selincourt on 30 May 1969, the organisation was founded by Martin’s grandmother Nancy Hunter-Gray. She was unable to accept the sudden, inexplicable death of her healthy grandson and gave Professor Francis E Camps £200 to hold a two-day Symposium at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge in April 1970.
1991
The Reduce the Risk of Cot Death campaign was launched. The charity joined forces with daytime TV star Anne Diamond, who sadly lost her son to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and the Department of Health, to launch the Back to Sleep campaign, a national multimedia campaign to warn parents that babies should sleep on their backs. The campaign was a huge success.
2002
We initiated a helpline, delivered by befrienders, who would divert the telephone into their own homes every evening to support bereaved families. This service is still running today, with people who understand helping bereaved people through their darkest days.
2006
We contributed funding to the South West Infant Sleep Scene (SWISS), a study conducted between January 2003 and December 2006, looking at all sudden unexpected deaths in infancy in the South West of England. The main focus was on potentially hazardous sleeping environments and the findings, along with those from the CESDI study are reflected in our safer sleep advice.
2013
The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) changed its name to The Lullaby Trust; this aimed to evoke a softer, warmer image, which helped us connect with bereaved families and reach a wider audience with our safer sleep advice.
Today
Today, we are supporting and reaching more families than ever before. We are dedicated to keeping babies safe and keeping grieving families supported, and we won’t stop until no baby dies suddenly or unexpectedly.
In 2025, as the rates of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) continue to decline, the families we support have continued to change. We’ll continue sharing trusted safer sleep message out to as many people as possible. But we also know that sudden and unexplained deaths are more likely to affect some babies and young children than others. Our work has expanded to focus on reaching and helping deprived communities, ultimately aiming to save more lives.
February 2025 saw us launch a new brand look, which reflects all of this work and our ambition to reach everyone who needs us. We hope that this will take us one great stride further to a world where no baby dies suddenly and unexpectedly. A world where no family faces grieving for their baby alone.
For every baby. For every family. Forever.