Students make their own special delivery
Students got the chance to see the tiny benefactors of their fundraising efforts as Stockton Riverside College made a special delivery of its own.
Paying a visit to the neonatal unit at the University Hospital of North Tees, the Health and Social Care students brought with them 20 emergency care kits for families rushed into the ward.
Ward Matron, Debbie Bryan, said: “Nobody expects to have a premature baby so when the baby arrives nine times out of ten it is unexpected.
“To be able to give a small gift of a few everyday essentials really helps them in that initial period.”
At Stockton Riverside College students have been working in partnership with NeoAngels, a charity set up to at the University Hospital of North Tees to support premature and sick new born babies and their families on the unit.
Taking part in a whole host of fundraising activities, from a sponsored abseil to a charity leg wax, the Health and Social Care and Childcare students and staff have put together the emergency care kits containing essential toiletries for mum and dad.
Keen knitters from the group also played their part by knitting tiny cardigans, booties, hats and specially treated bonding squares for baby, to include in the kits.
The Stockton Riverside College students hope to create boxes for the 350 families that pass through the unit each year.
Delivering the latest batch of emergency kits to the neonatal unit at the University Hospital of North Tees, Health and Social Care student Jaye-Ashley Wall, 19, of Hartburn, said: “I got involved because I wanted to help make a difference, by doing something outside of my college work that is going to help others.”
Victoria Thistlethwaite, 17, added: “I hope to go on to become a neonatal nurse so this offers me the chance to do something now to help families and babies.”
Health and Social Care teacher Janet Teasdale, who kick-started the fundraising drive, said: “To see the hard work that the students and staff have put in is amazing. It makes me quite emotional because I am just so proud of them.”