Matchroom Charitable Foundation’s donation of £25,000 to the Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity’s Tiny Toes appeal will lead the way in raising the £150,000 required to redevelop the Neonatal Unit at Rotherham Hospital, ensuring it’s a comforting and modern home for our tiniest and most vulnerable patients and their families.
Caring for a premature or poorly baby can be an extremely stressful and emotional time for parents. The excitement of a newborn is taken away and replaced with a rollercoaster of worries about the unknown. The ward, also known as the Special Care Baby Unit, was built 40 years ago and as the facilities were constantly used by parents, they were worn and outdated.
The generous grant from Matchroom has provided:
Parent’s kitchen and rest room: providing a communal kitchen with rest facilities offers families a space away from the busy ward area to prepare meals, to rest and recharge their batteries. The space will help to create a sense of community and mutual support amongst families, some of which spend weeks or even month on the ward as we care for their precious new-borns.
Staff room for clinical staff: NHS colleagues are caring and compassionate and go above and beyond for the tiny and vulnerable patients they care for every day and their families too. Working on the neonatal unit is a rewarding but often emotional and stressful job. Providing a designated space for clinical staff to rest and recharge is crucial for protecting their wellbeing, ensuring they can provide the highest level of care to new-borns and their families.
Consultation room: Having a premature or poorly baby can be an incredibly emotional and stressful time for parents, especially when their baby’s health is so uncertain. Devastatingly, some of the babies cares for don’t survive. It’s important to have comforting and non-clinical areas where staff can have often very difficult and emotional discussions with parents about their baby’s health.
Recliner chairs: our neonatal unit can care for up to 16 babies at a time and we hope to provide a recliner chair for each cot side. The chairs are supportive and comfortable for women breastfeeding and allow parents to sleep beside their precious new-born when time is most precious. Any remaining funds from Matchroom will help to fund these amazing chairs.
Rachael Dawes, Head of Fundraising, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive a £25,000 grant for our Tiny Toes appeal from Matchroom. It’s our biggest grant to date and we are so excited about the positive impact it will have. It will make a remarkable difference to our neonatal unit, allowing us to create comforting and homely spaces for both parents and staff for generations to come. The facilities the grant will fund were top of our ambitious ‘wish list’ so we couldn’t be more grateful that Matchroom were inspired to support the appeal. It’s such a meaningful way to support the NHS.”
Check out this video, which shows the amazing impact the money raised for the neonatal unit has had: https://youtu.be/Pb9AygHyDcA