Baby unit staff step out for fund-raising walk

H ea l th c a re s ta f f at S outh Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust are raising money for premature babies by walking thousands of miles to Lapland – virtually.

Staff at the Trust’s Neonatal Unit, who care for babies born prematurely or needing special care, began their winter walk on World Prematurity Day, November 17 and are due to finish on Christmas Eve.

During this time they aim to cover a distance of 1,978 miles, the equivalent of walking from the Sunderland Royal Hospital to Lapland.

Emily Cameron, neonatal unit manager at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Every year kind-hearted families take part in a range of activities to raise cash for our unit, which allows us to purchase specialist equipment and training for our teams.

"Unfortunately, due to Covid-19 a lot of this fund-raising has not been possible this year.

“We hope through our own fund-raising efforts that we will be able to support our patients’ families by gifting their babies a special present this Christmas. Any remaining funds will go towards supporting families throughout the rest of the year, such as buying presents for Mother’s and Father’s Day and purchasing journals and memory making tools.”

If you would like to support the team and donate to the unit, you can do so at https:// www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sunderlandnicu

The purpose-built unit at Sunderland Royal Hospital provides the highest standard of neonatal care in a family-orientated environment. It is run by specialist doctors, nurses and practitioners and facilities include special care cots and intensive/high dependency care cots.

Hospital staff are raising cash with a fund-raising walk.