Thanks a million – Tiny Hearts Appeal

The Tiny Hearts appeal was a very special campaign launched by Barnsley Hospital Charity in September 2014 with the aim to raise £1 million to support the relocation and redevelopment of a brand new Neonatal Unit.  We hit the target on Valentine’s Day 2020.

Thanks a million!  We have now reached our target and would like to say a big thank you for your support. It has taken a lot of dedication from a variety of people, organisations and staff. We understand and appreciate that the general public, organisations and staff have taken their time or money to help support this appeal.

The charity want to say thank you to each and every individual whether you have shared a post, put in the volunteer hours or donated money, it is all appreciated and has helped us achieve our target.

The new unit provides an even better standard of care for all the special care babies and the most comfortable environment for all families and staff on the unit. This appeal has allowed us to open the new unit (in November 2018) with brighter corridors and more space so families can spend time together in their own space but still be supported by the neonatal staff and to enable the Special Care Baby Unit team to continue their fantastic care and enhance their capabilities. The unit sits on the same level as the Barnsley Birthing Centre, which means that the babies do not have to be exposed to different environments and different temperature changes, nor do they have to be taken into an elevator.

Premature babies are underdeveloped and have to be given extra help for their tiny bodies to cope with the outside world, and can spend up to 13-14 weeks on the unit. The care on the unit is focused around allowing the babies to fully develop and the new unit has been updated and expanded in order to allow parents to have proper bonding time with their babies.

We have come a long way since launching the appeal and are really proud of what we have achieved as a community. Here is a video that we published on the day we hit the magic million, as a thank you to everyone who has been involved along the way.

If you love you to get involved with the work our charity does; please give us a call 01226 431650 to discuss fundraising opportunities and our upcoming events.

In spring, we will launch a brand new appeal and look forward to telling you more about this in the coming weeks. We understand from speaking to our supporters that some of you will still wish to support the neonatal unit; this is of course possible but as tiny hearts appeal will have closed please quote ‘neonatal unit’ in your correspondence.

The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a charitable fund administered by Barnsley Hospital Charity Reg. No. 1058037