Chris Snowden and Lee Stansfield are set to tackle the Bradford 10k wearing nothing but nappies to raise money for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity.
The brave duo will bare almost all in aid of the charity’s Neonatal Unit fund, which is currently raising money to create more family accommodation and facilities.
Bowman Riley, where Chris and Lee work as architectural technologists, has chosen to raise money for the Bradford Neonatal Unit for the next two years.
The award-winning Neonatal Unit, which is based at Bradford Royal Infirmary, is very close to the hearts of Bowman Riley staff.
Last year, Mark Hayton, architectural technologist at Bowman Riley, experienced first-hand the “absolutely amazing support and care” staff on the unit provide.
He said: “My son, Jack James, was born last year with a rare genetic condition (myotonic dystrophy) and spent nine days within the care of the BRI Neonatal Department until such point he could no longer continue and passed away.
“The choice of Bradford Neonatal becoming our charity partner was a simple one, as we wish to give back for the absolutely amazing support and care we received during Jack’s stay at BRI.”
Mark’s colleagues, Chris and Lee, are not only preparing to run the 10K, but also do battle with the Bradford elements.
Much-needed support
Chris said: “Not only does the Neonatal Unit treat and care for premature and critically ill babies, but they also provide much-needed support to the families, through what is a very difficult time. The Neonatal Unit is very close to the people of Bowman Riley.”
Commenting on the plan to run in nappies, Chris said: “The recent wet weather is very worrying. Adult nappies feel very absorbent and the February warm spell seems to have come to an abrupt end!”
The Bradford 10K will take place on Sunday, 17 March, starting and finishing in City Park.
If you would like to sponsor Chris and Lee, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bradford-neonatal
Neonatal Sister Tracey Barstow said: “We can’t thank Chris and Lee enough. The money they raise will be a great help to all the babies and families on our unit. We wish them the best of luck!”
Hayley Collis, Head of Fundraising for Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, said: “Bradford Neonatal Unit provides world class treatment and care, but staff always strive to provide more for their babies and families.
“We are incredibly grateful to staff at Bowman Riley for selecting Bradford Hospitals’ Charity as their chosen charity, so they can help staff from the Neonatal Unit achieve their dream of providing more accommodation for parents.”
Bradford’s Neonatal Unit cares for more than 500 premature and sick babies every year. Last year, it became the first intensive care unit (level three) in the UK to achieve Baby Friendly Initiative accreditation, set up by the children’s charity Unicef and the World Health Organisation.
To find out more about why Bradford Neonatal Unit is fundraising, view their video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCEyyEL64yY&t=8s
Note to Editors:
- Bradford Hospitals’ Charity is one of more than 250 NHS charities based around the UK. It supports the strategic direction of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by funding projects which go over and above what he NHS provides.
- Did you know that, together, all NHS charities give £1million every single day to the NHS!
- In 2017, a new £28million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, which was part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals. It provides world-class facilities for the elderly, children and a brand new intensive care unit. Bradford Hospitals’ Charity provided £260,000 to enable the Trust to create family friendly environments, state-of-the-art equipment and innovative distraction toys and games for young people.
- With the support of Bradford Hospitals’ Charity, BTHFT was also able to provide more cots, including intensive care and high dependency cots, new family accommodation, a revamped counselling suite and a dedicated room for mothers to express milk for pre-term babies when the new neonatal unit opened in 2015.
For further media information, please contact Kelly Thornham, Communications Officer, at communications@bthft.nhs.uk or call 01274 382265
Twitter: @BTHFTCharity Facebook: bradfordhospitalscharity Instagram:bradfordhospitalscharity LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bradfordhospitalscharity
Note to Editors:
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for providing hospital services for the people of Bradford and communities across Yorkshire. We serve a core population of around 500,000 and provide specialist services for 1.1 million people.
Our 5,500 staff work over several sites, including Bradford Royal Infirmary, which provides the majority of inpatient services, and St Luke’s Hospital, which predominantly provides outpatient and rehabilitation services. We also manage local community hospitals at Westwood Park, Westbourne Green, and Eccleshill.
In early 2017, a new £28 million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals over a five-year period. It provides world-class facilities for elderly care, children’s services, a state-of-the-art intensive care unit with increased single-room provision and a retail concourse.
The new wing is a continuation of our work to improve patient experience after our new £2 million neonatal unit officially opened in January 2015. Our maternity services were recently shortlisted for the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Midwifery Service of the Year Award, recognising excellence and innovation in the provision of maternity care.
In 2017, we also completed a £2m refurbishment of our Emergency Department (ED) as part of an ambitious vision to create a more efficient acute medicine service for the people of Bradford. It has been designed to provide a slicker and more efficient service, with faster senior clinical involvement at an early stage in the patient pathway.
As a teaching hospital, we are at the forefront of education and development in healthcare, and have an excellent reputation for research performance. We are one of the leading centres in conducting applied research in the country, particularly in quality and safety, elderly care and rehabilitation.
The Trust is home to the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) where researchers have led the development, validation and implementation of the award-winning Bradford Electronic Frailty Index (eFI) which helps calculate an elderly person’s risk of disability, impairment, falls and complications of chronic diseases, as well as their diminishing independence and capability. This is now being used by 98% of all GPs across the country.
Our award-winning Ophthalmology department is home to numerous worldwide clinical trials taking the lead in eye care research and we are one of only three sites in the United Kingdom to be enlisted in the Perioperative Enhanced Recovery Hip Fracture Care of Patients with Dementia (PERFECTED) study, which will investigate how the NHS can introduce better standards of care to improve outcomes for people with dementia.
The Trust has its own Bradford Hospitals Charity: https://bradfordhospitalscharity.org/
Follow us on Twitter: @BTHFT
For more information please visit www.bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk