In December we gave £5,000 to the Neonatal Unit at Airedale General Hospital, which provides specialist care for babies that need extra help and support following birth.
Staffed by 21 nurses, the unit provides round-the-clock care for around 200 babies every year, as well as providing support for parents whose babies are being cared for on it. It is also where Caroline van Niekerk, our Sales, Marketing and Design Director (pictured far left), was born!
The donation will be used to update the parents’ sitting and kitchen area, with a new seating area and TV being installed, to make it more welcoming for parents who often spend many hours on the unit while visiting their babies. It will also be used to fund parent journey bags, which are given to every family entering the unit and contain goodies for both parents and babies, as well as a milestone book in which parents can record their baby’s time on the ward.
We gave the Neonatal Unit the donation as part of our charity initiative, which sees us give away £1,000 every month to support worthy causes in the areas where it builds homes. We upped our donation amount in December to celebrate the excellent care and support the Neonatal Unit provides to babies and families when they need it most, especially at Christmas.
Sarah Szpara, Senior Sister on the Neonatal Unit, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Skipton Properties has given us such a generous donation, which will allow us to provide a much more welcoming and relaxing space for parents whose babies are being looked after here.
“Everyone knows that the NHS is severely underfunded and without help like this, we just can’t invest in this type of thing. It’s a highly stressful and overwhelming time for parents when their babies are on the unit, so a place close by where they can rest and relax makes a huge difference and helps make their time here less stressful. This donation will make that possible and help hundreds of parents.”
Caroline added: “This is such a worthwhile cause that will make a genuine difference, and we hope our donation will help to make families time on the unit as comfortable as possible.”
Do you have a local charity we could help?
We’d still like to hear from other local charities in the towns and villages in each of our current and future developments launching over the next 12 months. The only criteria is that the charity benefits local people. Applications will be reviewed on a monthly basis in advance of the next month’s charitable donation. Visit www.skiptonproperties.com/charity/ to complete your application.