ACT, the dedicated charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals, is inviting local schools, nurseries and colleges to each try to raise what they can this term and in the run-up to Christmas to help towards all kinds of extras from specialist equipment for very sick babies to cosy blankets, comfy furnishings for waiting areas and extra facilities for the birth centre.
The current expansion and modernisation of the Rosie will give more babies born locally the best possible start in life. With over 100,000 infants delivered at the Rosie since it opened in 1983, ACT hopes that youngsters will be keen to support the hospital where they were born.
Trudy Harper, Community Fundraising Manager at ACT, said: “Supporting the Rosie is the perfect way for children and young people to learn how much fun fundraising can be. A number of local schools have already made a fantastic contribution by hosting non-uniform days, talent shows, raffles and a wide variety of activities – we hope they will inspire others to get involved. Every extra penny of community funds that each school can raise towards our year-end total will really help make a difference to tiny newborns and their families.”
Easy ways for schools, nurseries and colleges to back the Big Push include:
- Hold a collection at your Christmas performance or carol concert
- Hold a non-school uniform day and / or come to school in fancy dress
- Have a cake sale in the staff room or the playground
- Host a table-top sale of unwanted CDs, DVDs and books
- Stage a Big Push for the Rosie talent show
- Keep fit with a sponsored walk, skip or run for the Rosie
- Sell Rosie wristbands and/or Rosie toy rabbits.
So far this year children, students and staff at Anglia Ruskin University; Bewick Bridge Primary School; Chesterton Community College; Grasshoppers Day Nursery; Histon & Impington Infants School; Hurworth House School; Linton Village College; Mepal and Witcham CE Primary School; the Perse Pelican School; the Perse Preparatory School; the Perse School; Ridgefield Primary School; and St Bedes Inter Church School have all been fundraising for the Rosie.
Mark Patterson, Head at Chesterton Community College said: “Our students suggested holding a fancy dress non-uniform day and fundraising event for the Rosie, where many of them were born. Activities included cake sales, baby-related guessing games, a teacher murder mystery stall and much more – the whole event was a lot of fun. We take great pride in encouraging a strong community ethos and were very happy to support such a worthwhile local cause.”
To find out more about the Big Push for the Rosie Campaign, request wristbands, download a fundraising pack or discuss what you would like to do to help, please call Trudy Harper on 01223 217757 or go to: http://www.therosiecampaign.org.uk.
About the Rosie Hospital Campaign
The Rosie Hospital is recognised as one of the finest maternity hospitals in the country. Supported by charitable funding, the Rosie opened in 1983, since when much has changed. It was designed for approximately 4,000 births a year. In 2010-11 almost 5,800 babies were born at the Rosie and by 2020 that number is expected to increase to 7,500.
The new three-storey extension is opening in September 2012 and will almost double the size of the existing maternity unit. It will mean the Rosie can continue to offer pregnant women, their families and new babies the very best standard of care. New facilities include:
- A brand new midwife-led birth centre with ten en-suite rooms for women with a low risk pregnancy
- An expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with 58 cots for babies born early or in need of specialist attention
- New ‘home from home’ accommodation with eight en-suite bedrooms, a rest area and kitchen for parents that have babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
A new Fetal Medicine and Day Assessment Unit for monitoring pregnant women and fetal development - A dedicated counselling suite offering professional support when outcomes are not as planned.
For patients and staff these new world-class resources will make an enormous day-to-day difference. With extra space available, staff will be able to help more women give birth in the comfort of their local hospital. The transformed Rosie will be a regional centre of clinical excellence for training and will aim to set new standards of care by advancing antenatal and neonatal development through research.
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For media information and images please contact:
Natalie Yates, MayFifteen Communications, 07714 766106, natalie@may-fifteen.co.uk
Rosie Campaign website: http://www.therosiecampaign.org.uk