The Serenity Appeal will fund the creation of a specialist bereavement suite for Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI), the purchasing of a mobile ultrasound scanner for Bassetlaw Hospital’s Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU), and enable the refurbishments of the two EPAU counselling rooms across both sites. To make all this possible, the Trust needs to raise £150,000 and all the funds generated from the Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge will go towards achieving this target.
The challenge will see the participants take on the mountains Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside, and Inglebrough, whilst being guided by qualified walking leaders who will ensure the safety of all involved. They will follow the 24-mile route over the mountains, which includes 1585 meters of ascent.
Rhian Morris and Mathew Proctor are the Bereavement Midwives at the Trust, and have lead the push for improvements to the maternity bereavements services at both Hospitals. Rhian said: “We are delighted to announce this challenge and can’t wait for it to get started. It will undoubtedly be tough for all those involved, but we believe that they couldn’t be doing it for a better cause and are sure that it will be a fantastic day.
“The appeal will allow us to bring our bereavement care within maternity up to date and ensure that we offer a gold-standard service to all of our patients. This investment will give these families the opportunity to spend time with their baby and make memories in their own time, something that will be invaluable to them.”
Hayley Milner and Paula Fores both work in EPAU at DBTH and have both signed up to take part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. Hayley said: “The funds raised through this appeal will massively help our department and we are very passionate about wanting to personally contribute to the target. We rely on patient feedback to improve our service in EPAU, and we hear a lot from patients who have experienced problems in pregnancy and therefore require a scan. They have to sit in a department with other ladies who are having dating and 20-week scans, which makes them feel uncomfortable.
“Although our contribution will be small towards the £150,000 target, every little helps. By participating in the Three Peaks Challenge we are going to be really pushing ourselves, but we will be doing it for our patients. Any donation is not too small, every £1 helps.”
This challenge is suitable for individuals and teams, but you will need a good level of fitness to take part. You must be at least 16 to participate, and all under 18’s must be accompanied by a responsible adult throughout the duration of the event.
There is a £40 registration fee for all those who join, and the minimum sponsorship is £150. All participants will receive a welcome pack filled with ideas to help you train, as well as advice on how to reach your fundraising target. As an extra bonus, all of those who take on the challenge will receive a special t-shirt to wear on the day.
Training walks, organised by Kuta Outdoors, will also be taking place and further information on these walks, as well as the challenge itself, will be included in the welcome pack sent over.
If you would like to find out more about this project, please head to https://dbthcharity.co.uk/our-events/ or to get more information on the wider appeal, please click on this link https://dbthcharity.co.uk/serenity-appeal/.
The Trust will also shortly be releasing details on an upcoming skydiving fundraising event for the Serenity Appeal, which will take place at Skydive Hibaldstow in July. Those who wish to express interest in taking part in this adrenaline fuelled event should contact Sarah Dunning, DBTH’s charity coordinator, on Sarah.Dunning@NHS.net.