Cerebra

What Cerebra does

Cerebra is a UK national charity (Charity No. 1089812, Company Limited by Guarantee) founded in 2001 and headquartered in Carmarthen, Wales, with additional operations in Swansea (Cerebra Innovation Centre) and Tadworth (Bugzi & Switch Adapted Toys team, formerly MERU). The organisation provides research, health, legal, financial, and social care advice and support to families of children with brain conditions (neurodevelopmental conditions) aged 0–16 across England and Wales, addressing a UK population of over 500,000 affected children. Core services are delivered free to families and include the Sleep Advice Service, a free postal Toy and Book Library, Parent Guides and factsheets, the LEaP Legal Rights Service (developed with University of Leeds School of Law), the Cerebra Innovation Centre for bespoke assistive product design, the Bugzi loan scheme for powered wheelchairs, and switch-adapted toys. The Charity also operates a secondary professional training segment selling OCN Level 3 (£495) and Level 4 (£1,400) sleep training courses to health, education, and social care professionals.

The business model is a hybrid non-profit revenue mix rather than a technology product. Earned income streams include the Count Me In Lottery (weekly £1.20 tickets, 80p to charity, £1,500 prize), seasonal raffles (£1 tickets, up to £5,000 top prize), professional sleep training courses, sales of adapted toys and Flexzi mounting systems via the Cerebra Shop, and the Give As You Live affiliate partnership across 4,000+ retailers. Voluntary income comes from individual donations, corporate partnerships (e.g., Specsavers), trusts and foundations, community fundraising events such as the 2,500km Relay Your Way challenge, and the legal supporters group (e.g., Fieldfisher). The Innovation Centre produces bespoke designs at no charge to families, with some designs (e.g., GoTo Seat) commercially licensed via Leckey's Firefly.

The organisation carries regulatory certifications including Gambling Commission licensing (account 5059), Fundraising Regulator registration, PIF TICK for trusted health information, and AMRC membership for research standards. Strategic research is delivered through the Cerebra Network for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CNND) with four UK universities, and a 20-year milestone of the Sleep Service and Innovation Centre was celebrated in 2025/2026.

Name

Cerebra

Legal name

Cerebra

Website

https://cerebra.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Cerebra is a UK national charity providing free research, health, legal, financial, and social care advice, plus bespoke assistive products, to families of children aged 0–16 with brain conditions across England and Wales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Disability Support Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Family Caregiver Coaching, Education & Support (HSABAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Behavioral Health & Counseling (Social Work, Psychology, Substance Use CE) (EDAAALAD)

Keywords

• Disability charity services
• Paediatric sleep support
• Assistive product design
• Special needs legal advice
• Accredited sleep training

Headquarters

HQ city

Carmarthen

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Cerebra relies heavily on donations from individuals to fund vital research and services. One-time and monthly donation options are available through the website.
2. Count Me In Lottery: Weekly lottery with tickets costing £1.20 each. 80p from each ticket goes directly to funding research and services. Players have the chance to win £1,500 every Thursday. Licensed by the Gambling Commission.
3. Raffle: Raffle tickets cost £1 each with prizes including £5,000 (1st), £1,500 (2nd), £500 (3rd), and 10x£100 runners-up. Seasonal raffles including Christmas and Summer editions.
4. Sleep Training Courses: Professional sleep training courses sold to health, education, and social care professionals. Essential course (OCN Level 3) at £495; Intermediate course (OCN Level 4) at £1,400. Bespoke organisational training also available.
5. Adapted Toy and Product Sales: Bugzi & Switch Adapted Toys team sells ready-made products including Groovz arm guides and Flexzi mounting ranges. Income funds free charitable services. MERU team joined Cerebra in 2025.
6. Give As You Live Partnership: Partnership with Give As You Live generates donations when supporters shop online with over 4,000 retailers. Percentage of sales donated to Cerebra at no cost to the shopper.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Cerebra is a UK charity that provides free research-driven advice, health, legal, financial and social care support to families of children with brain conditions. Its core offerings include a Sleep Advice Service, a Toy and Book Library, Parent Guides, the Legal Rights Service (LEaP), bespoke assistive products from the Cerebra Innovation Centre, the Bugzi Loan Scheme, and adapted toys. It also sells OCN-accredited professional sleep training courses to practitioners.

Product overview

Cerebra is a UK national charity offering a portfolio of free services for children with brain conditions and their families. The core offerings include the Sleep Advice Service (providing sleep support, guides, webinars, and one-to-one help), Toy and Book Library (free postal lending of books and sensory toys), Parent Guides (comprehensive downloadable factsheets), and the Legal Rights Service (LEaP project). The Cerebra Innovation Centre creates bespoke assistive devices at no charge, while the Bugzi & Switch Adapted Toys team produces powered wheelchairs and adapted toys including the Flexzi mounting range. Professional training includes OCN-accredited sleep consultant courses. The organisation also operates fundraising through its Count Me In Lottery and raffle, and produces The Calm in the Complicated podcast. All services are research-driven and evidence-based through partnerships with universities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sleep Advice Service Free sleep support service providing advice, one-to-one support, sleep tips booklet, guides, webinars, and seminars to help children with brain conditions and their families get better sleep.
• Toy and Book Library Free specialist postal library offering books for adults and children plus sensory toys, switch toys, and ebooks/audiobooks via the BorrowBox app for families of children with brain conditions in the UK.
• Cerebra Innovation Centre (CIC) Designs and builds innovative, bespoke products to help disabled children discover and engage with the world, creating custom solutions for families at no charge and manufacturing popular designs in small batches.
• Parent Guides Comprehensive series of downloadable guides and factsheets covering legal, social, financial, educational, and health issues for families of children with brain conditions, including A-Z guides and mythbusters.
• Legal Rights Service (LEaP) Free legal entitlements and problem-solving project helping families access health, social care and support services they are entitled to, developed in partnership with University of Leeds School of Law.
• Bugzi Loan Scheme Free loan scheme providing Bugzi small powered wheelchairs for children under 5, enabling very young disabled children to move independently and develop control and cause-and-effect skills.
• Essential Paediatric Sleep Advice Consultant (CEPSAC) OCN Level 3 accredited online training course providing introduction to sleep and the ability to support children with additional needs with their sleep through 10 hours of on-demand learning including assessments, workbook and personalised feedback. Priced at £495 per participant.
• Intermediate Paediatric Sleep Advice Consultant (CIPSAC) OCN Level 4 accredited training course equipping participants with comprehensive knowledge and practical skills to become proficient sleep consultants, available as a 3-day face-to-face or 4-week virtual option. Priced at £1,400 per participant.
• The Calm in the Complicated Podcast Six-episode video podcast hosted by Dr Carrie Grant MBE and Dr Samantha Flynn providing support, connection and practical guidance for families raising children with brain conditions.
• Count Me In Lottery Weekly lottery with chance to win £1,500 every Thursday; tickets cost £1.20 each with 80p going directly to funding research and services. Licensed by the Gambling Commission under account number 5059.
• Cerebra Raffle Raffle with prizes including £5,000 top prize, £1,500 second prize, £500 third prize, and ten £100 runners-up prizes; tickets cost £1 each across seasonal editions.
• Flexzi Mounting Range Versatile mounting system positioning iPads, switches, cameras and Xbox Adaptive Controllers for optimal access, attaching to wheelchairs, desks and beds. Sold via the Cerebra Shop.
• Switch Adapted Toys Battery-operated toys adapted for accessibility using push button switches, providing motivation for children to learn about cause and effect and develop motor control skills. Includes multiplayer toys such as Scalextric.
• Behaviour Checklist Resource from the Cerebra Network for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CNND) helping parents assess behaviour and wellbeing of children with complex needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 3,000 families helped by Innovation Centre since 2005
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Sandfield Park SchoolminorOthers · 1 January 2025School received Hydrobeatz floating music station from Cerebra Innovation Centre for use in music class as a desktop music station.
• Leckey's FireflyminorOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2024Leckey's Firefly manufactures and sells the GoTo Seat originally designed by Cerebra Innovation Centre for Cassidy to use in shopping trolleys. Now available worldwide for use in shopping trolleys, swings, planes, and trikes.
• FieldfisherminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFieldfisher is a law firm with expertise in medical negligence, particularly birth and brain injury cases. They are part of Cerebra's Legal Supporters Group, providing information to families about legal options for obtaining compensation to fund rehabilitation, care, therapies and education.
• Cerebra Network for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CNND)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research network led by Dr Caroline Richards (University of Birmingham), Dr Jo Moss (University of Surrey), Dr Jane Waite (University of Aston), and Dr Hayley Crawford (University of Warwick). Network research hubs focus on sleep, atypical autism, and mental health research to improve lives of individuals with severe and complex needs.
• University of Leeds School of LawcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped the LEaP (Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving) Project in conjunction with Cerebra. The project helps families get the right legal support for accessing health, social care or other support services.
• Give As You LiveminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline shopping platform that donates a percentage of sales to Cerebra when supporters shop through their website or app. Works with over 4,000 retailers including fashion, home, holidays, and everyday shopping.
• SpecsaversminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partnership with Specsavers. Nature of partnership involves fundraising and awareness raising.
• OCN LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOCN London provides accreditation for Cerebra's sleep training courses. The Essential course is OCN Level 3 accredited and the Intermediate course is OCN Level 4 accredited.
• Fundraising RegulatorminorOthersCerebra is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and displays the Fundraising Regulator badge, demonstrating commitment to fundraising standards.
• Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC)minorOthersCerebra is a member of AMRC, indicating adherence to high standards in medical and health research funding.
• Patient Information Forum (PIF)minorOthersCerebra holds PIF TICK certification, the only quality-mark for health and care information producers in the UK, demonstrating trusted information creation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Contact (for families with disabled children): UK charity supporting families with disabled children across education, benefits, and legal issues. Directly comparable to Cerebra's LEaP legal rights project and parent guides, with similar audience and family-advisory service mix.
• Whizz-Kidz: UK charity providing mobility equipment (powered and manual wheelchairs) to disabled children. Closely comparable to Cerebra's Bugzi and Cerebra Innovation Centre offerings, serving an overlapping beneficiary population with bespoke assistive equipment.
• Together for Short Lives: UK charity for children with life-limiting conditions and their families, providing information, advocacy and support services. Comparable to Cerebra in serving families of children with complex neurological and developmental conditions.
• Rainbow Trust Children's Charity: UK charity providing practical and emotional support to families with a seriously ill child, including those with neurological conditions. Comparable family-support model and UK-only operating geography.
• Brainwave: UK charity delivering therapy programmes and support for children with brain conditions and developmental delay. Comparable specialism in paediatric brain-related conditions and family-centred service delivery.
• Newlife Foundation: UK charity funding essential equipment for disabled and terminally ill children, including a specialist disability equipment loan service. Comparable to Cerebra's Innovation Centre and adapted-toys function, with similar free-to-family distribution model.

Broad incumbents

• Mencap: Largest UK charity for people with learning disabilities, supporting children and adults. Overlaps with Cerebra's beneficiary base where brain conditions cause learning disabilities, but operates across a much wider population and service portfolio.
• Scope: Major UK disability charity with a much broader remit (all disabilities, all ages) and large-scale campaigns and services. Comparable as a national disability-sector peer with overlapping family-support and policy-advocacy work, but at far greater scale.

Regional players

• Sense (for deafblind people): UK disability charity supporting people who are deafblind or have complex needs, including children. Comparable as a specialist UK disability charity with family services, though focused on a different sensory-disability population.

Others

• Disabled Children's Partnership: Coalition of UK charities (including some Cerebra peers) campaigning for disabled children's rights and services. Comparable as an ecosystem participant in the same advocacy and family-support space as Cerebra's LEaP project.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cerebra