Who We Are

Who We Are

Peeps is the only UK charity* dedicated to supporting those affected by H.I.E. HIE stands for hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy. It is a lack of oxygen to the brain that can cause injury. Peeps was set up in 2018 by Sarah & Steve. The name came from friends who affectionately referred to their daughter Heidi as “Heidi-Peeps”.

Here’s a quick note from Sarah to explain why they set Peeps up:

We found ourselves in the world of HIE when our daughter was born in March 2015. She stopped breathing shortly after birth; without any warning, our NICU journey began. Neither of us had heard of HIE before, none of our friends or family had, and let’s be honest, it was a scary time. I googled it (going against the advice of all the nurses of course!). Luckily I found a Facebook forum for families. Without that group we would still have been wondering what on earth was going on! So, we wanted to change things a bit, reach out to families in the early days, and bring the
information to them, rather than them having to look for it.

Every HIE journey is going to be different. There can be similarities, celebrations, uncertainties and worrying times. Peeps can be along-side you whenever you need us, whether that’s today, next week or in a few months’ time.

*Our charity registration number is 1179495. You can find our information on the Charity Commission website by clicking here.

Peeps is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.