With construction of the expanded and modernised Rosie Hospital due for completion this summer, hundreds of local people have been getting involved to raise funds to help buy extra equipment that will benefit new babies, women and their families.
Over 100,000 infants have been delivered at the Rosie since it opened in 1983. So ACT, the dedicated charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, has been calling on parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and children of all ages to help meet the Big Push target of £150,000.
Trudy Harper, Community Fundraising Manager at ACT, said: “Hitting the £30,000 mark is a wonderful achievement. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has been so generous with their time and money for the Rosie so far. It has been a real grass roots community effort with lots of people from all walks of life helping in all sorts of ways. People have bought Rosie wristbands, walked, swum, run, staged concerts, organised raffles, baked cakes and so much more. We’d like to say an enormous thank you to all the individuals, schools, businesses, shops, pubs, clubs and community organisations that have donated and helped in so many ways.”
“The funds that we are raising from the community this year will be a vital addition to those that ACT is seeking from major donors towards the Rosie expansion. Reaching our first significant Big Push milestone is a great boost that will hopefully encourage many additional individuals and organisations to get involved by hosting fundraising events, taking part in sponsored activities and buying Rosie wristbands. Our campaign mascot Rosie Rabbit will be out and about in the city during the summer and we have just received a big new batch of wristbands, so now is the perfect time to get involved.”
Anna Shasha, Head of Midwifery at the Rosie, said: “It means so much to our hard-working team here at the Rosie to know that there is so much local support. Now that the major construction work is almost complete, we’re getting set to start fitting out the new premises with equipment. This is where every penny of community funds will really make a difference to help transform the empty building into a superb 21st century hospital where more women, newborns and their families will be able to benefit from the very best maternity and neonatal care.”
There are lots of easy ways to support the Big Push for the Rosie:
· Buy a Rosie wristband: Available for £2 from the ACT office at Addenbrooke’s, the Rosie Hospital or from local stockists (see www.therosiecampaign.org.uk for details). If you’d like a box of wristbands to sell please contact ACT on 01223 217757.
· Get your school or nursery involved: The Perse School, Ridgefield Primary School and Histon & Impington Primary School have all held fundraising events – could your school, college or nursery get involved?
· Work the Big Push: Why not join the many businesses that are planning activities or stocking wristbands at work – including the Cambridge News, Ridgeons, Cafe Nero and many more?
· Club together for fundraising fun: How about encouraging your sports or community club to host a sponsored activity?
· Get baby on board: Make a date to step out on a Big Buggy Push, take little ones on a sponsored toddle or get active with the baby group.
· Hold a Big Rosie bake-off: Cook up some tasty treats for a cake sale, coffee morning or afternoon tea party.
To find out more about the Rosie Campaign, to request a box of wristbands or to discuss what you can do to help, please call Trudy Harper on 01223 217757 or go to: www.therosiecampaign.org.uk
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About the Rosie 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 and modernisation programme will almost double the size of the existing maternity unit and mean the Rosie can continue to offer pregnant women, their families and new babies the very best standard of care. Facilities will include:
· A brand new midwife-led birth centre with ten new en-suite rooms for women with a low-risk pregnancy
· An expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with 58 cots for babies who are born early or in need of specialist attention
· A new residential centre with eight en-suite bedrooms, a rest area and kitchen. This will be available 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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