Neonatal and maternity charity, Baby Beat, has been chosen as this year’s Charity of the Year by Preston’s Nationwide Building Society branch. Staff at the branch will be supporting with raffles, collections and challenges throughout the year.
Based at Sharoe Green Maternity Unit at the Royal Preston Hospital, Baby Beat supports babies and mothers being cared for at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
In recent years, the charity has raised funds for sensory equipment for neonatal babies, bedside resuscitation units and more recently, the refurbishment of the Sharoe Green maternity bereavement suite.
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Baby Beat’s income has fallen by a third this year due to cancelled fundraising events and restrictions to community fundraising. Baby Beat’s charity shop, based at the Sharoe Green Unit has also been either closed or operating under reduced hours for the past 11 months.
Preston’s Nationwide Building Society branch will be support Baby Beat by fundraising for vital maternity services not covered by NHS funding through raffles and collections throughout the year.
Cameron Redpath, Member Representative at Nationwide Preston, said: “It’s great to be supporting such a fantastic charity that helps our local community. We are certainly looking forward to our relationship with Baby Beat over the next year.
“Nationwide Building Society gives all employees up to 14 hours volunteering leave every calendar year meaning that we can volunteer on a working day to help give back to the community. This could range from anything from donating blood, being a governor on the school board, to going out to schools to conduct sessions on managing money. This means that we can support Baby Beat even further with volunteering local fundraising events and supermarket collections.
“At Nationwide, any fundraising colleagues complete can also apply for matched funding up to £100 of the totals raised which is a great way to support charities at such a hard time we’re all currently facing.”
Cathy Skidmore, Baby Beat manager, said: “We are delighted that the team at Nationwide Preston have chosen Baby Beat as their charity of the year. Their support is very much appreciated and will make a difference for babies and mums cared for at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. With their support, and the support of other businesses locally, we will be able to continue to fund patient comforts, cutting edge equipment, innovative services and research to ensure that we can continue to offer the highest quality care so that the babies born locally have the best possible start to life.”
Make sure to follow Baby Beat on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!
