Charity raises £3,700 and donates eye-catching vests to Shropshire’s MLUs
A Shropshire charity has raised almost £4,000 for the county’s five Midwife Led Units (MLUs) – and generously donated some eye-catching vests for newborn babies to wear.
The Shropshire Smile charity made the donation of baby vests during a visit to Bridgnorth MLU today.
The vests will be used by all five of the county’s MLUs – Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Wrekin in Telford – and will be offered for sale to parents for their babies to wear. Each vest states which MLU the baby was born at (e.g. “I’m a Bridgnorth baby”).
Wendy Cutchie, Lead Midwife for Midwife Led Units and Community Midwifery Services at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “We’re always incredibly grateful for the support of the local community which helps to provide added extras that support the excellent care our Midwives provide every day.
“The baby vests are a lovely idea and I’m sure parents will be delighted with them, as they will be an extra special memento. The funds raised from the sale of the vests will be re-invested in the MLUs, for them to purchase equipment or to fund extra training for the Midwives.
“I’d like to thank the Shropshire Smile charity for its fantastic efforts in raising money for us to provide additional items to benefit our MLUs. Their support is very much appreciated.”
The Shropshire Smile charity was set up by Eddie Brown, 47 and from Bridgnorth, four years ago.
Its aim is to provide funding to the five MLUs in Shropshire for equipment to help towards the care and treatment of babies and parents. It has so far raised around £3,700 for the MLUs.
Eddie said: “When my ex-wife went into labour with our son Matthew, who is now 16, I was so impressed with the Midwives, who went above and beyond.
“I launched the charity to give a little back to the Midwife Led Units as a ‘thank you’ to the Midwives and other staff.
“The charity aims to help support the county’s MLUs to buy equipment and other items. We thought the vests would be a nice idea and a lovely memento for parents to take away for their newborn babies.”
Eddie, who runs Spin classes in Bridgnorth through his business Edspin, has organised a charity slim which will take place for the next two months. It follows the success of a sponsored spinathon in July last year which raised £3,500 for Shropshire Smile.
Eddie said a particular thanks to Corporate Togs in Bridgnorth which has kindly agreed to print all the vests for free.
For more information about the sponsored slim, which will raise money for MLUs through Shropshire Smile, and how to get involved contact Ed by emailing edspin@sky.com or calling 07794 121316.
