A Barnsley couple have organised an amazing charity fundraising event on Saturday 3 October, 7pm at the Alexandra Working Men’s Club, Royston to raise money for Barnsley Hospital Charity’s very special Tiny Hearts Appeal.

Scott and Janine Meyers have organised Thomas’s Tiny Hearts Fundraiser to celebrate the christening of their baby Thomas who was born 13 weeks prematurely, on Scott’s birthday at Barnsley Hospital where he was cared for by the Neonatal Unit.

The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a campaign to raise £1 million to support the relocation to a new Neonatal unit that will be built around the needs of the babies and their families. State-of-the-art equipment will be provided to enable the Neonatal team to continue their fantastic care and enhance their environment. The unit will be situated on the same level as the Barnsley Birthing Centre, meaning babies will not have to be exposed to different environments and different temperature changes, nor will they have to be taken into an elevator up to the neonatal unit on the top floor.

Thomas was born at just 27 weeks and 4 days and was the size of a 25 week gestation baby. His growth in the womb had slowed down due to his mother Janine, developing pre-eclampsia during the pregnancy. He was delivered by emergency caesarean section at Barnsley Hospital weighing a tiny 1lb 11oz.

Scott Meyers, Thomas’s father says:

“We really wanted to give something back to the hospital and staff on the neonatal unit after everything they did for Thomas – they saved his life. They were absolutely amazing and we can’t thank them enough for everything they did for Thomas. This event is just something we wanted to do to say thank you. We also want to raise awareness of pre-eclampsia as this is a condition that pregnant women may get and can be fatal to both mother and baby if it goes undetected.”

The couple from Church Street, Royston have had tremendous support from family and friends, gathering round and donating auction and raffle prizes, as well as local businesses showing their support. Within three hours of the fundraiser tickets going on sale, they’d sold 100.

Janine Meyers, Thomas’s mother says:

“Thomas had to be transferred to Hull Royal Infirmary Neonatal Unit after three days because Thomas was having difficulty with ventilation, heart problems, a bleed on his brain, under developed lungs amongst other things and had to be transferred quickly.”

“We lived in the hospital with him for a month at Hull and Scott had to take over a month off work to be with us. We’re so thankful to everyone, both at Barnsley Hospital and Hull for everything they did. We’ll never be able to thank them enough.  Being away from family and friends at a time like this was hard but Thomas was our priority.”

Thomas was transferred back to Barnsley Hospital’s neonatal unit after four weeks at Hull Royal Infirmary to continue his recovery where he spent another three months.

Steve Wragg, Chairman of Barnsley Hospital Charity said:

“This is a real heart-warming story that demonstrates the skills and care our staff are able to provide here at the hospital. They’re extremely dedicated to providing the very best care to the most vulnerable babies.

“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 current unit needs to be updated and expanded in order to allow parents to have proper bonding time with their babies.

“We all wish Thomas and his family the very best for the future and look forward to hearing about his progress.”

If you’d like to show your support, and make a donation to Thomas’s Tiny Hearts Fundraiser you can visit www.justgiving.com/thomasjmeyers/ or contact the charity office on 01226 431650.

Staff from five Sainsbury’s Locals in Barnsley will be taking part in a spectacular Big Bike Ride on Sunday 13 September raising money for Barnsley Hospital Charity’s Tiny Hearts Appeal.

The fundraising is part of their charity of the year efforts from Sainsbury’s at Redbrook, Royston, Shafton, Monk Bretton and Athersley. It will see staff come together, get their cycling kits on and set off from the Redbrook branch at approximately 11:30am Sunday morning and cycle a massive 36.9 miles. On the journey they’ll hit stores including Royston, Holmfirth and Normanton before finishing at Huddersfield’s Shorehead store.

The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a campaign which aims to raise £1 million to support the development of a brand new, state of the art neonatal unit which will be situated alongside the Barnsley Birthing Centre, which means babies will not have to be exposed to different environments and different temperature changes, nor will they have to be taken into an elevator to the top floor.

The Big Bike Ride sees members of staff take part in the three day event which cycles across every Sainsbury’s store in the northern region between 11 and 13 September. Staff can take part in the full challenge or join in at any point along the journey to raise money for their chosen charity.

Sue Peters, Store Lead at Sainsbury’s Local, Redbrook says:

“It’s fantastic to be supporting the Tiny Hearts Appeal and several staff members were really keen to take part when they heard about it. We wanted to organise a fabulous send off for them as they set off on the huge cycle ride and help raise awareness of the appeal.

We’ve been supporting the charity’s appeal all year and this just one of many fundraising activities we’ve been taking part in to support the appeal.”

To make the send off extra special, he charity’s mascot ‘Cheerio’ will be attending to wave them off as they set off on their journey.

Steve Wragg, Chairman of Barnsley Hospital Charity says:

“It’s great that the local stores have chosen the Tiny Hearts Appeal as their choice for their current fundraising year. They’ve been so supportive and we’re extremely thankful for all their support.

We wish the staff all the best for the challenge and look forward to hearing all about it.”

If you’d like to support the Tiny Hearts Appeal, you can find information on Barnsley Hospital Charity’s website www.barnsleyhospitalcharity.co.uk

A young woman from Barnsley took part in the Velocity Zip Wire, in Wales this weekend raising money for Barnsley Hospital’s Tiny Hearts Appeal.

Sarah Williams, 38, from Silkstone in Barnsley took part in the Zip Wire challenge, with her husband and three friends on 29 August. The Velocity Zip Wire is described as the longest zip line in Europe. The Zip wire is also the fastest in the world and can reach speeds in excess of 100mph.

The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a campaign which aims to raise £1 million to support the development of a brand new, state of the art Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) which will be situated alongside the Barnsley Birthing Centre, which means babies will not have to be exposed to different environments and different temperature changes, nor will they have to be taken into an elevator.

The new unit will enable the care team to adapt to each individual baby and their complex needs much more fluidly than before.

Sarah, who has worked for Barnsley Hospital since qualifying as a midwife in 1999, and now works as a community midwife chose to fundraise for the appeal after experiencing first-hand the care and treatment from the Special Care Baby Unit.

Sarah says:

“My twins Isobel and Luke were born at 29 weeks in Dewsbury hospital because there was no room at Barnsley, however they were moved back at 6 days old and stayed on Barnsley’s SCBU for a further four weeks.

“It made such a difference to be near to home, they had excellent care and the staff were amazing. I know what a difference it has made to the staff in the maternity unit having the new Birthing Centre and I am sure the staff, as well as the babies and parents they care for would benefit so much from having a new unit.”

The new unit will be built around the needs of the babies and their families. State-of-the-art equipment will be provided to enable the team to continue their fantastic care and enhance their capabilities.

Steve Wragg, Chairman of Barnsley Hospital Charity says:

“Premature babies are underdeveloped and have to be given extra help for their tiny bodies to cope with the outside world, they can spend up to 13-14 weeks on the unit which is why this appeal is so special.

The money raised will go towards the new building and fundraising events like this are fantastic. I hope they have a fabulous time.”

If you’d like to support Sarah and make a donation, you can visit her JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Williams132

Zoe Shaw, Paediatric Sister in the Emergency Department at Barnsley Hospital, and Danny Williams recently embarked on the trip of a lifetime in aid of Barnsley Hospital Charity (reg. no. 1058037), to support the Tiny Hearts Appeal and the Paediatric Emergency Department.

The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a campaign which aims to raise £1 million to support the development of a brand new, state of the art Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) which will be situated alongside the Barnsley Birthing Centre. The new unit will enable the care team to adapt to each individual baby and their complex needs much more fluidly than before.

The pair, from Barnsley named their team ‘Lexus go to Rome’ and have raised a fantastic £397 so far on their JustGiving page and are still collecting sponsorship, expected to take their total to around £600.

Danny says of the journey:

“It was an absolutely amazing adventure of a lifetime; we met some fab people and loved every minute. The feeling after completion is something between exhaustion yet not wanting it to be over. It was brilliant.”

In 10 days, they travelled a staggering 4,500 mile journey from Edinburgh to Rome in a car that cost them just £500. Before the event, they told the charity how nervous they were, but the cause was close to their hearts as Danny’s daughter (now aged 11) spent time on the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) as a baby and they felt they wanted to support the unit in an extra special way.

Zoe says of the experience:

“It was amazing; I can’t tell you how good it was. The car behaved beautifully and I even survived the camping.

“We both used our skills – my first aid experience was very useful and Danny proved he knows more than I thought about cars – helping at many a breakdown but thankfully never our own.”

Rust 2 Rome is not a trip for the faint hearted; Zoe and Danny faced extremely challenging roads in their car, a Lexus GS300. The pair travelled from Edinburgh to Rome in a charity rally with 44 other cars, and spent most of their nights camping.

The event was completely self-funded so every penny raised goes direct to the charity.

Steve Wragg, Chairman of Barnsley Hospital Charity says:

“We are extremely grateful for their support and admire their commitment and dedication to such a tough challenge.

“It’s always fantastic when fundraisers have enjoyed their experiences; it means that they get benefit just as much as the charity. Well done to them both for taking part and finishing such an extreme adventure.”

If you’d like to support Zoe and Danny, you can visit their JustGiving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/Danny-and-Zoe-Lex-us-go-to-Rome1/

A spectacular Kylie Minogue tribute night has seen a fantastic £852 raised in aid of Barnsley Hospital Charity’s Tiny Hearts Appeal.

The spectacular event which was organised by friends Racheal Connolly and Michaela Marsden was held on Saturday 11 July at Denroyd Farm, Upper Denby and was a huge success with around 150 attending to show their support.

 The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a campaign which launched last September, and aims to raise £1 million to support the development of a brand new, state of the art Special Care Baby Unit which will be situated alongside the Barnsley Birthing Centre. The new unit will enable the care team to adapt to each individual baby and their complex needs much more fluidly than before.

Rachael says:

“My little boy is now 4 years old, but he was treated in the neonatal unit when he was born. I have always felt like I wanted to give something back to support the amazing work that they do and thanks them for what they did for me and my baby at that time.

“When I heard about the Tiny Hearts Appeal, my friend Michaela suggested that we organise a charity event to raise funds. Her little boy Samuel is now 1, but was also treated by the neonatal unit last year.”

From that, the pair from Upper Denby & Emley, Huddersfield decided to dedicate the Kylie tribute night at Denroyd Farm to the appeal with £2.50 from the sale of each ticket being donated.

Steve Wragg, Chairman of Barnsley Hospital Charity says:

“I’d like to give a huge a thank you to Rachael and Michaela for organising this amazing evening to support the Tiny Hearts Appeal.

“It’s lovely to hear how grateful they are to our staff and hospital, and that they wish to support us and help us raise the funds to build such an important unit that will benefit future patients and their families.

“It just shows that Barnsley Hospital is being recognised in other communities, not just Barnsley and it’s brilliant that they want to show their support and help us with the appeal.”

The fabulous, fun packed evening saw Jeni Jaye, who is widely regarded as one of the top Kylie tribute acts in the UK appear and perform a fantastic show.

As well as Kylie, there was a DJ, a bar selling draught lagers, beers, cider, selection of bottles, wines, prosecco and spirits – and a mobile fish bar selling fish and chips and much more!

Four local lads have raised in excess of £1,500 pounds between them in aid of Barnsley Hospital Charity’s Tiny Hearts Appeal.

Scott Copeland, Matthew Hanwell, Mark Cassell and Ben Hall have been taking part in several fundraising challenges over the previous months to raise awareness and support for the appeal. However, Sunday 26 July saw the team complete the big finale – the Castle Howard Gauntlet triathlon. Although they still have donations arriving, they’ve so far raised a staggering £1,554 for the appeal.

The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a campaign which launched last September, and aims to raise £1 million to support the development of a brand new, state of the art Special Care Baby Unit which will be situated alongside the Barnsley Birthing Centre. The new unit will enable the care team to adapt to each individual baby and their complex needs much more fluidly than before.

Scott says:

“Mark is a charge nurse at Barnsley Hospital and he told us about the appeal. We wanted to raise funds for a local cause where people can see where and how the money is being spent and the impact on people in our town.

“It was a huge challenge, with very long distances that are difficult to complete in training because of the time it would take.”

Scott added:

“The Sunday before the event I’d been away with my family, it was the last opportunity to do a big training session before the event. The other lads were out on a team training session, so I actually cycled the whole 80k back whilst the family drove.”

The Gauntlet challenge saw them complete a 1.9km Castle Howard lake swim, a 90km bike and a 21km off-road run at the stunning venue. In the lead up to the event they were quite concerned in case they injured themselves or had bike troubles, but the day went well with no issues.

In order to prepare for the challenge, the team began training in January, Mark says:

“If we’d been doing it on our own I think it would have been a lot harder. We did a lot of training before and after work, and we incorporated team training days and used Strava, a mobile phone app to compete and motivate each other. To train for the lake swim we used the outdoor swimming area at Pugneys Country Park.”

All four completed the race in admirable times, with Mark even coming in 39^th place out of around 200 participants.

Steve Wragg, Chairman of Barnsley Hospital Charity says:

“The challenges that these guys have gone through in aid of the Tiny Hearts Appeal is incredible. They were tough and physically demanding, not for the faint hearted and they’ve risen to that challenge and raised a fantastic amount for the charity.

“It can’t have been easy training for something so challenging, especially working full time and training for these types of distances. I’d like to personally congratulate them and say thank you.”

Upon completing the course, the team were met with huge cheers from family and friends who showed up on the day to support them.

A fantastic anti-ageing charity evening is set to take place to raise funds in aid of Barnsley Hospital Charity (reg. no. 1058037) on Wednesday 26 August, 18:00 to 20:00.

The Aesthetica clinic is officially launching a new anti-ageing machine and medical skin care range, and has decided to use the launch night to raise awareness and funds for the charity’s Tiny Hearts Appeal.

Emma Wake, Manager of Aesthetica Clinic says:

“We wanted to support the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Barnsley hospital as we know what a good job the unit does. We thought it would be nice to have this evening and give something back to the community raising money.”

The Tiny Hearts Appeal is a campaign which launched last September, and aims to raise £1 million to support the development of a brand new, state of the art Special Care Baby Unit which will be situated alongside the Barnsley Birthing Centre. The new unit will enable the care team to adapt to each individual baby and their complex needs much more fluidly than before.

The clinic, on Rotherham Road, Barnsley offers all aesthetic and beauty treatments from muscle relaxing treatments to laser hair removal and body contouring.

Amy Stoyles, Aesthetics Director at the clinic says:

“This is something we really wanted to support because we all know people that have used the Special Care Baby Unit and have seen first-hand the amazing care they offer. We really wanted to help support the appeal because we know how much this will benefit local people.

“We thought we could use the clinic and not only launch our new machine and pamper people, but use it to help the charity as well.”

Members of the public are invited to attend the pampering evening, which is donating every single penny from the event to the charity.

Tickets cost £3.50 for entry, where attendees can expect to be greeted with a glass of champagne and canapés to relax with.

The evening will include live demonstrations of the amazing anti- ageing medical Fractora treatment, free skin consultations and special offers.

There’ll also be stalls available on the night to complement the clinic’s services as well as some fabulous raffle prizes, live music and anti-ageing speakers from London.

Steve Wragg, Chairman of Barnsley Hospital Charity says:

“We’re really grateful for the support and generosity being shown from Aesthetica Clinic and its staff. It’s a lovely idea that people can go along to the evening and not only come away feeling happy and relaxed after enjoying some TLC, but they’ll also be benefiting their local hospital.

“The Tiny Hearts Appeal to build the new unit is still in its early days, but the support from the general public has been amazing and we are extremely thankful.”

If you’d like to attend the charity evening, you can purchase tickets before and on the night by contacting the clinic on 01226 733 728

Hello to you all, it’s Tanya here.

It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been involved with writing a blog post and I promise you it’s not because I wanted to neglect it, we’ve just been a bit overwhelmed with powder paints, rainbows and other daft colourful things. In actual fact, the Rainbow Run has quite literally taken over to the point where it’s now cropping up in my dreams!

So if you haven’t already registered… do it now by visiting www.barnsleyhospitalcharity.co.uk/events/rainbowrun

It’s going to be a fantastic day for all the family and your support is vital in ensuring the success of our event. It’s also a really great opportunity to cover yourself in paint and irritate your family when they come to pick you up in their nice clean cars (actual tip: remember to take old towels/bin bags to help minimise the mess!)

On a more serious note, I wanted to discuss our new fundraising process for all you fantastic supporters who are thinking of fundraising in aid of Barnsley Hospital Charity; whether it’s to support the Tiny Hearts appeal for the Special Care Baby Unit, or one of our many other hospital departments and speciality areas.

From now on, if you’d like to fundraise for us, you’ll need to get in touch with us to request an Event Registration Form. You’ll be asked to fill this out, detailing the event information and your contact details. This needs to be returned to us so that we can send out a letter of authorisation, which states that you have permission to fundraise for us and to request donations on behalf of our charity. It will also enable us to provide you further advice if required, and help keep you safe and legal if the legitimacy of your event is ever questioned by a member of the public.

You will then be able to crack on with your fundraising projects and achieve the best possible results. We love finding out about what you’ve got planned so please keep us updated.

Please remember that we’re always happy to help in any way we can and are dedicated to raising funds to support local care here in your town.

If you would like to fundraise for Barnsley Hospital Charity, or perhaps you’re thinking about signing up for  the Rainbow Run but need more information, please contact our team today at barnsleyhospitalcharity@nhs.net or call 01226 431915.

Hi Everyone,

It’s been awhile since my last post, did you all have a wonderful Easter?

Recently in the charity we’ve been thinking about ways to get you, our fans, readers and followers more involved. So I had an idea to create an Instagram account. What better way to keep connected with you all, post photos and intrigue you all with short videos, or teasers if you like! So far we don’t have many pictures or videos on their but a lot of you have followed us and for that we want to say thank you! You could help us to raise Barnsley Hospital Charity’s profile by liking our posts and sharing our updates, tag us in your fundraising stories @Barnsleyhospitalcharity and send us messages about your ideas, we like to get to know our followers! So why not follow us and see what we have to share with you.
https://instagram.com/
As spring evolves into summer, we also edge closer to our Rainbow Run! We’re extremely excited, there’s so many plans that have been made, and a few things left to finalise but I can already tell that everything is going to be amazing! We have some really cool things happening before the event too and we’re eager to see how much sponsorship money you guys have raised!! We are urging you all to sign up, but why? What’s in it for you?

You should all sign up because the event is fun for all the family, people of all ages can join in, whether you’re pushing your children around in a push chair, walking round with your Nan or you’re strolling through the track with your dog, it’s a family event so you can all get involved!

It’s at the beautiful Locke park venue, in the heart of the town! One of Barnsley’s biggest parks, with stunning scenes to keep you going to the finish line.
You get to have a messy day! Have paint thrown on you while you race around the track, painting the town all different colours. And even if you don’t fancy running, you could still register to be a paint throwing volunteer!

You can keep fit while having fun; it doesn’t matter when you cross the finish line, as long as you cross it! By starting to run or jog you’re going to be raising your heartbeat, pumping blood around your body, burning calories and improving your cardiovascular fitness and stamina, which will definitely improve your fitness!
It’s all in the name of charity, it’s fun and it’s definitely not all about winning, it’s the taking part that counts! Raising lots or sponsorship will help the charity to support local care by enabling us to provide those little extras above and beyond what the Trust is able to provide. You’ll feel good just knowing that you’ve contributed to improving someone’s experience at Barnsley Hospital! https://www.barnsleyhospitalcharity.co.uk/events/rainbowrun/

The weather is starting to look up now, which means it’s the perfect time to be going outside and having some fun! Will anybody be venturing to town on Saturday? What about doing a spot of shopping in the sunshine or getting some lunch? If you keep your eyes and ears open you might just see a few members of our charity team out and about in the town centre, along with some of our lovely fundraising friends!

By Rebecca Louise Nicholson.

It’s been a busy few days at the Charity: drum roll please! The Rainbow Run is coming! After the tremendous feedback from last year’s Run, we have organised an event for 2015. Again the run will be held at Locke Park, and If you didn’t already know, the charity run is a fun and competitive jog, sprint, or gentle walk through coloured paint.

There are two events, a 1K race and a 5K, but it’s not all about running, so don’t worry if you’re currently looking down at your knees and thinking they might not be up to the task! The event is fun and suitable for the whole family, so bring your bring your partner, your children, your granny or your granddad, and you can even bring your dog along to take part in this colourful race and help us paint the tarn’!

A little bit about the run: after registration you will be given your race number, which MUST be attached to your clothing and visible at all times. Once the race has started you will run the through a course of colour stations, and at each point paint will be ‘liberally’ sprinkled over you. Don’t worry; the paint is totally harmless to your skin, hair, clothing and the environment too. A quick bath, shower or even a bit of hosing off in the yard will set you correct and present. Just take off your shoes before you get in the house! As for the environment, the paint will wash away with the next rainfall – and as were in Barnsley we know there’s going to be some rain!

Raising sponsorship is essential for the Rainbow Run, after all, it’s nice to have support from your friends and family but raising money for Barnsley’s most important charity is important, right? If you’re 16 or older and you manage to raise £50 sponsorship you’ll win an official Rainbow Run t-shirt and if you’re under 16 and raise above £10 you’ll win a children’s Rainbow Run t-shirt. You will also be given at registration a free rainbow run sweat band!

Rainbow run T-shirts are up for sale at a promotional price of £3.50 in the charity office based at Barnsley Hospital, but you might want to come and grab one quickly as the price will rise to £5 at the event!

So what else can I say? This week in the office, I have been looking for some more events that the Charity Team could attend, I did a lot of research and stumbled upon lots of music festivals, running events, galas and fares which all looked like good fun to go along to! What I want to know is do YOU have any ideas for events we could attend? We’re looking to broaden our horizons and get out into the community, even further than Barnsley, and spread the word of the Charity!

Will we be seeing you at our future events? Keep an eye on https://www.barnsleyhospitalcharity.co.uk/events/ for more updates!

By Rebecca Louise Nicholson