For Lucy Chappell, 29, from Kirk Sandall, Doncaster, the challenge was about far more than completing 13.1 miles.
She took on the race in honour of her grandad John, who passed away on 6 October 2024 after receiving care at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
Remembering him, Lucy said: “My grandad was such a funny man – a proper Yorkshireman.
“I have so many fantastic memories of him growing up. Trips to my nanna and grandad’s caravan in Filey during the summer holidays, helping him in the garden, and spending Christmases, birthdays and anniversaries together as a family.
“He had a brilliant sense of humour and, while he wasn’t always the loudest person in the room, some of the one-liners he would come out with would have us all belly laughing and in floods of tears.”
John loved his sport, particularly football and golf, and spent much of his spare time at the local bowling club playing bowls in the summer and snooker during the winter.
He was also a keen gardener who grew vegetables at home, including what Lucy remembers as “the best carrots in the world”.
When John became unwell in 2024, he was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary by ambulance before later returning home. He was subsequently readmitted and sadly passed away in October.
Throughout that time, Lucy says the care her grandad received never left the family’s thoughts.
She said: “I cannot fault the care that my grandad received throughout his time.
“From the paramedics to the end-of-life care team, everyone did their very best to make him feel comfortable and safe.”
Wanting to thank those who cared for him, Lucy decided to raise money for DBTH Charity by taking on her first ever half marathon.
Despite previously representing England in the Heptathlon and competing at national level, she admits the challenge was daunting.
She said: “When I first started training, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to do anything more than 5km.
“It’s definitely a much different way to train compared to my Heptathlon days.”
Inspired by her boyfriend Matt’s participation in the event the previous year, where he raised money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, and as a passionate Leeds United supporter, Lucy chose the Leeds Half Marathon as the perfect fundraising challenge.
Crossing the finish line was an emotional moment, knowing she was carrying her grandad’s memory with her every step of the way.
Through her efforts, Lucy has raised more than £500 for DBTH Charity, helping to support patients, families and services across Doncaster and Bassetlaw.
About DBTH Charity:
Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals’ Charity is the official charity which supports Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Trust to go above and beyond by providing additional equipment, services and amenities for our patients, visitors and staff which cannot be funded by the NHS alone.
These additional extras would not be possible without the support of our community. With your help, we can continue to work with our Trust to fund innovative and exciting projects that make a difference to our patients, their families and our colleagues who care for them.
Visit the charity website to find out more: https://dbthcharity.co.uk/
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Baby Loss Awareness Week, now in its 20th year, is an opportunity for everyone who has experienced this kind of bereavement to come together to remember and commemorate much-loved and missed little ones.
The week also provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the impact of pregnancy and baby loss, the importance that bereavement support plays in the ongoing bereavement journey, and of the vital work that is needed to improve pregnancy outcomes and to save babies’ lives.
The hospital charity, which supports Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI), Bassetlaw Hospital and Montagu Hospital, launched the ‘Serenity Appeal’ in February of this year to make major enhancements and improvements to its bereavement services within maternity.
Healthcare professionals at the Trust are hoping to raise £150,000, money which will fund a dedicated bereavement suite at DRI, a mobile ultrasound scanner for the Early Pregnancy Unit (EPAU) at Bassetlaw Hospital and refurbishments to two counselling rooms for services across both sites.
As the namesake and centrepiece of the appeal, the ‘Serenity Suite’ will be a designated space at DRI for families to stay if they have experienced a bereavement, allowing them to spend time with, and mourn, the loss of their new-born. It will be a self-contained and sound-proofed environment, equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, soft furnishings and lightings, all of which will help support families during a highly sensitive time.
Throughout the week, the charity, alongside the Trusts Bereavement Midwives and Early Pregnancy Unit Team will be visiting locations across Doncaster & Bassetlaw. This will include Lakeside Shopping Centre and Morrison’s stores in Doncaster, Retford & Worksop to provide support to local families and raise awareness of The Serenity Appeal.
Alongside these stands, the charity will run various events including a 12-hour walk followed by a lantern walk in partnership with Sands United South Yorkshire on Saturday 8 October. There will be a charity concert organised by Thorne Rural Lions on Sunday 9 October and the week will end with its second skydive on Friday 14 October.
Full details of locations the charity will be visiting and events can be found here: https://dbthcharity.co.uk/blaw2022/
In addition to these activities, the charity is working with local companies and key landmarks across the community asking them to light pink and blue throughout the duration of the week alongside the hospitals.
Alternatively, participants are requested to illuminate on the 15th October, or just the hour between 19:00-20:00 on the 15th October to join in with the global Wave of Light.
Rhian Morris, Bereavement Midwife from Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “I hope that our Baby Loss Awareness Week activities will spark conversations about baby loss and give local bereaved parents and families an opportunity to talk about their precious babies, whilst supporting The Serenity Appeal.
“To date, with thanks to the community that surrounds us, we’ve raised over £80,000 towards the appeal but still have a long way to go to help us reach our final target of £150,000 and we urge you to consider supporting Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity during this week to help us continue to raise funds towards the appeal”
Local businesses, schools and community groups can get involved by organising awareness activities within their workplace throughout the week or hosting fundraising activities to help raise funds for The Serenity Appeal. For support please contact the charities fundraising team on dbth.charity@nhs.net.
To find out how you can support Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity, please visit: https://dbthcharity.co.uk/serenity-appeal/. For more on how to raise awareness of baby loss please visit: https://babyloss-awareness.org/.
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The Serenity Appeal will ensure that those who require the support of the maternity bereavement team at DBTH receive a gold standard of care. The appeal will fund the creation of a specialist bereavement suite, The Serenity Suite, which will be a designated space for families to go if they have experienced a bereavement, allowing them to spend time with, and mourn, the loss of their new-born. It will also fund the purchasing of a mobile ultrasound scanner for Bassetlaw Hospital’s Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU), and allow the refurbishments of the two EPAU counselling rooms across both sites.
Last year, Chloe gave birth to a stillborn child at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI) on the central delivery suite, surrounded by the cries of new-born babies, and in early 2022, she sadly suffered a miscarriage. However, Chloe and her partner Mitchell Carrigan are full of praise for DBTH’s maternity bereavement team, and in particular Mathew Proctor and Rhian Morris who are DBTH’s bereavement midwives. They consequently wanted to raise funds for the Serenity Appeal as a way of saying thank you for the support that they received throughout these experiences.
Chloe has been walking her two pugs, Bulo and Jax, around her local village and the surrounding fields, with the end goal of crossing the 100km mark by the end of the month. They began these walks on 31 July, the birthday of their little boy Avery, and have been making good progress so far.
Chloe spoke about the significance of the Serenity Appeal. She said: “I think if we had had that space when we had Avery, I would have stayed at the hospital longer with him, but I wanted to go home because I did not want to be in that environment.
“As much as the midwives tried their best to make it as easy as possible, you could still hear the cries of other babies. If we had that separate space away from the central delivery suite, I would have stayed there a lot longer, just to be with him”.
Rhian Morris, one of DBTH’s Bereavement Midwives, thanked Chloe for her fundraising efforts. “We would like to say a big thank you to Chloe, Bulo and Jax for embarking on this sponsored dog walk. As a trust, we want to do all that we can to ensure that families get the time and space they need, in privacy, to grieve and be with their child. The creation of the Serenity Suite will allow us to achieve this, and fundraising efforts, such as that done by Chloe, enables us to get one step closer to achieving this goal, so we will be eternally grateful to everyone who donates to the appeal.”
If you would like to support Chloe with her fundraising efforts, you can donate via her Just Giving page which can be found here – https://tinyurl.com/s6799kr3.
To obtain more information on the appeal as a whole, please click on this link https://dbthcharity.co.uk/serenity-appeal/, or contact Sarah Dunning, DBTH’s charity coordinator, on Sarah.Dunning@NHS.net.
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Last year, over 30 stars of all shapes and sizes lit up the buildings across all three DBTH sites. The illuminations were sponsored by generous local families, individuals, schools, and a wide variety of local businesses, and the Trust’s charity is now asking for sponsorships again for this year’s campaign.
In just two years, this festive campaign has raised an incredible £60,000 for hospital services, and colleagues hope that this year’s campaign will continue to add to this fantastic total – money which will be reinvested into patient care, treatment and facilities.
Sponsorship is open to all, including individuals, community groups, local businesses and schools. There are four different types of stars with four different price levels starting at £500 and running to £5,000 – each of which comes with a range of benefits to the sponsors. The funds raised through this campaign will enable the charity to continue to support the trust to improve patient experience at all levels across their hospital sites, funding projects which help them go above and beyond for patients, their families and our colleagues which cannot be funded by the NHS alone.
Alfie Wigley, whose mother, Gaynor Wigley, works as the Ward Manager on Rehab 1 at Montagu Hospital, has already been working incredibly hard to raise the funds which will enable him to sponsor a star this coming Christmas. To raise the funds, the intrepid youngster has created a tuckshop and raffle on Rehab Ward 1 at Mexborough Hospital, allowing staff, visitors, and patients to purchase a sweet treat as well as a raffle ticket, where they could win a wide collection of prizes.
Gaynor spoke about the amazing efforts of Alfie. She said: “Last year Alfie asked about the Christmas Stars on the side of the hospital building at Montagu. I told him the story behind them. He said he wanted one and wasn’t put off by the cost when I told him they were £500!
“I am incredibly proud of Alfie. I am sure that the money raised will be put to fantastic use by Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals’ Charity and both Alfie and I would like to express our thanks to all those who have purchased anything from the tuckshop or bought a raffle ticket.”
For more information or to reserve a star, please visit www.dbthcharity.co.uk/our-shining-stars/.
As well as being able to sponsor a physical star, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals’ Charity is also giving people the opportunity to sponsor a virtual star for any donation amount, with these stars being displayed on screens around the hospital as well as on the charity’s website. To sponsor a virtual star, please click on this link https://visufund.com/our-shining-stars-2022
If you have any other questions about how you can support DBTH’s ‘Our Shining Stars Campaign’ or if would like to sponsor a star, please contact the Fundraising and Communications Team on 01302 644244 or dbth.charity@nhs.net.
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The Serenity Appeal will enable the Trust to significantly enhance the maternity bereavement services that they are able to offer. It will fund the creation of the ‘Serenity Suite’ on the Women’s and Children’s Ward at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI), which will be a specially designed bereavement suite for families to utilise if they have sadly lost their new-born. Alongside the suite, the appeal will also allow the Trust to purchase a brand-new scanning machine for Bassetlaw Hospital’s Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU) and enable the renovation of the counselling rooms at both DRI and Bassetlaw.
Lauren Wales, Laura Cooper, Olivia Hutchinson, Caitlin Hunt, and Nathaniel Redcliffe, who formed the team taking on the challenge of jumping from 15,000 feet, are all staff at DBTH who wanted to do their bit to support the appeal.
Laura Cooper spoke about why she wanted to take part in this charity challenge: “I wanted to help the Serenity Appeal and promote everything it stands for as I connected with it on so many levels, including on a professional basis. As a sonographer in the Trust, I often break unexpected bad news to patients and witness the heartache this has caused first-hand. Therefore, knowing I can personally better a patient’s experience allows me to give something back to them.”
Rhian Morris and Mathew Proctor are DBTH’s Bereavement Midwives and have been working hard to make their dream of improving DBTH’s maternity bereavement services a reality. Matt expressed his thanks to all who took part in the Skydive and emphasised the importance of events such as this: “I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who took part in the challenge, but also to everyone who donated to their efforts. Jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet is not for the faint-hearted and we are grateful that they all faced their fears and took on the challenge for such an important cause.
“Raising over £7,500 is fantastic and gets us one step closer to achieving our overall target. Every little donation really does help so we are delighted with all the support that the appeal has received so far and hope that this continues.”
This charity skydive was one of three charity challenges organised by the Trust for the Serenity Appeal, with the first being The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge which took place at the end of June and raised over £6,000 for the appeal. The final challenge will take place in October and will be a second skydive at Skydive Hibaldstow. To find out more about this challenge, please head to https://dbthcharity.co.uk/our-events/ and if you would like to participate, please contact Sarah Dunning, DBTH’s charity coordinator, on Sarah.Dunning@NHS.net.
To obtain more information on the appeal as a whole, please click on this link https://dbthcharity.co.uk/serenity-appeal/.
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The Serenity Appeal will allow the Trust to create a specialist bereavement suite at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI), purchase a mobile ultrasound scanner for Bassetlaw Hospital’s Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU), and refurbish the two EPAU counselling rooms at both DRI and Bassetlaw.
13 people tackled the 24-mile route over the three peaks (Pen-Y-Ghent, Whernside, and Ingleborough), alongside qualified walking leaders who guided the team. They all completed two of the peaks, but a lightning storm meant that some participants had to be pulled off the final mountain for safety reasons. However, a few members of the team managed to beat the storm and complete all of the three peaks in an amazing 9 hours.
As they traversed the peaks, the team carried a poster with them which had the names of babies who are sadly no longer with us written upon it. Families were given the opportunity to send in any names they would like included on the poster to ensure that their child would be remembered on the walk, and the poster acted as a constant reminder to the team as to what an important cause they were raising money for.
Among the 13 who took part were DBTH’s bereavement midwives, Mathew Proctor and Rhian Morris, who have been working tirelessly to improve the maternity bereavement services across the Trust. Rhian spoke about the challenge and the importance of this appeal. She said: “Even though the day didn’t end as we would have liked, it was still a huge success and we are very grateful to everyone that took part, and even more so to everyone that sponsored us.
“Some of the team managed to reach the summit of the 3rd peak just as the thunder and lightning started which was amazing as they managed to complete all three. For the other part of the group, we had just reached the summit of the 2nd peak as the storm began. This was a very frightening experience and certainly gave us the push to get down the mountain. We have made the decision to return as a group and complete the challenge!
“We want to thank each and every one of you for the support and all of your generous donations. With you behind us, it will enable us to enhance the care provided to families that are facing the heartache of baby loss, of every gestation, and we are as a team forever grateful for this.”
Vanessa Ogden, who is the Director and Head of Care at ORB Recruitment LTD, took part in the challenge. She reflected on her experiences of the day: “This was literally the hardest challenge I’ve ever done, and I’ve done quite a lot of them over the years!
“The day was great, albeit tiring, and the feet situation was hard going at times! If I had to describe the challenge in three words, I would say nuts, as you have got to be nuts to do it in the first place. Determined, as I easily could have quit at the 10-mile checkpoint, and grateful to know that although it was tough, many people would love to do this and unfortunately can’t.
“Despite not being able to walk the next day, everything hurting and having five of my toenails still black, it was a fantastic experience and to do it for such a good cause is what it was all about. So far, I’ve raised £200 but donations are coming in.”
Although the team have now completed the challenge, you can still donate to DBTH’s Bereavement Midwives via their Just Giving page which can be found here – https://www.justgiving.com/team/DBTH-Bereavement-Midwives.
To find out more about the Serenity Appeal, you can visit DBTH’s Charity website or contact the Charity Team at DBTH on Tel: 01302 644244, email: DBTH.Charity@nhs.net.
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This appeal will allow the Trust to improve its maternity bereavement care, ensuring that patients receive a gold standard of care.
Maxine and Adam sadly lost their daughter Willow at Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI). The couple were able to gain access to a private room where they could stay with Willow and give their family the opportunity to come to visit her until they were all ready to say goodbye.
‘The Serenity Appeal’ will ensure that more patients can get access to a room where they can grieve in privacy, like that which Maxine and Adam received. It will fund the creation of a specialist bereavement suite for DRI, the purchasing of a mobile ultrasound scanner for Bassetlaw Hospital’s Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU), and allow the refurbishments of the two EPAU counselling rooms across both sites.
The group taking on the challenge, entitled The Willow Wanderers’, wanted to support the Trust in reaching their £150,000 target by taking on the Three Yorkshire Peaks.
Maxine said: “I wanted to do something that would challenge myself, rather than doing something that I would find easy. The people who know me know that climbing up three big hills is not going to be something that I will be looking forward to, but it is for such an important cause, and we are happy to do what we can to support the appeal.
“Raising the awareness of baby loss is a massive deal. I have spoken about it to a few people since this has happened to me and found out that three people, who I have known for a long time, have also gone through it. Opening up and allowing people to tell their story is a massive thing.”
Rhian Morris and Mathew Proctor are the bereavement midwives at the Trust. Rhian passed on her thanks to Maxine and those taking part in the challenge. She said: “We would like to express our thanks to all of the Willow Wanderers’ for the fantastic efforts that they are putting in to help us to lead and further the maternity bereavement services within South Yorkshire, enabling our Trust to be a leader in gold-standard bereavement care for our families.
“We think that it is of the utmost importance to ensure that we can offer as many patients as possible the service that both Maxine and Adam received. Giving someone absolute privacy at such a tragic time helps ensure that those, who sadly do have to go through this terrible experience, start their grieving process in the best way possible.”
If you would like to donate to Maxine and Adam’s amazing fundraising efforts, you can do so through their just giving page which can be found here – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thewillowwanderers. There are also a number of ways that you can donate to the appeal, whether you want to make a one-off donation, take part in a sponsored event, or create your own fundraising project – please head to https://dbthcharity.co.uk/serenity-appeal/ for more details.
If you have questions or would like to request more information in regards to this appeal, or for any other charitable project at the Trust, please contact the Charity Team on Tel: 01302 644244, email: DBTH.Charity@nhs.net or head to http://www.dbth.nhs.uk/charity.
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Genna’s brother, Alex Sweeney, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis after a scan at Doncaster Royal Infirmary in July 2017 found perforations in his large bowel. He was subsequently rushed into the hospital to have life-saving surgery, which was thankfully successful.
Genna continues the story: “He had sepsis, faeces in his bloodstream, and required the lifesaving operation. This meant that he was then in critical care with all his organs outside his body in packs to keep them from getting infected.
“He spent a long time in critical care, in the ward right next to the nurse’s station, and had round-the-clock care. Without them, he wouldn’t have made it.”
Genna wanted to give back to those who helped save her brother, so decided to raise funds for the unit by competing in the London Marathon. She started running about three years ago and has gradually been building up her distance running experience, taking part in her first half marathon in February, however, this prestigious event will be her first full marathon. She said: “Everyone was saying that there is no way that you would get in, because you usually don’t get accepted on your first application, but I did!
“I am feeling excited about it and am delighted to be able to fundraise for such a worthy cause. I have been told that the atmosphere is incredible and a friend of mine, who has run it 4 times, said it is amazing, one of the best experiences.”
Simon Brown, Divisional Director of Nursing in the Clinical Specialist Division at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “We are very grateful for the support and fundraising that Genna will be doing for the Critical Care Unit. The money raised will really make a difference to our patients and be put to fantastic use, ensuring our staff can continue to deliver safe, effective and high-quality compassionate care to our sickest patients.”
If you would like to support Genna with her amazing fundraising efforts, you can donate via her Just Giving page which can be found here – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Genna-Farrance?utm_campaign=lc_frp_share_transaction_fundraiser_page_launched&utm_content=b5b5138a-71c2-43dd-944d-6dbc900eb696&utm_medium=email&utm_source=postoffice&utm_term=1648286248459. If you have any other questions about how you can get involved with supporting DBTH, you can contact the Fundraising and Communications Team on 01302 644244 or dbth.charity@nhs.net .
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Large and small ‘brew boxes’ containing tea, coffee and an assortment of sweet favourites were hand-made and distributed to all 250 areas across Doncaster Royal Infirmary (DRI), Bassetlaw Hospital (BH) and Montagu Hospital in Mexborough (MMH) in time for the nationwide tea party.
With the help of Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals’ Charity, Doncaster College, Yorkshire Tea and Bird & Blend, the Trust is delighted to be bringing staff a thank you brew box for teams to enjoy and share.
It isn’t only hospitals getting involved, but also other public services such as community centres, schools, and church halls. The NHS Big Tea is open to anyone anywhere who wishes to use the opportunity to fundraise for the NHS.
Trust Chief Executive, Richard Parker OBE, said: “The NHS Big Tea has presented an excellent opportunity to celebrate our colleagues and to thank them for their continued hard-work and dedication.
“I believe that the NHS is a fantastic organisation for our country, providing award-winning services every day of the year. Today is a special day, it is a day for colleagues to reflect on what they have achieved but also to take a few moments for themselves to participate in the big tea event.
“I hope Team DBTH can take the chance today to celebrate with each other 74 years of our fabulous NHS.”
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals’ Charity raises vital funds to support Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Bassetlaw Hospital and Montagu Hospital to go above and beyond by providing additional equipment, services and amenities for our patients, visitors and staff which cannot be funded by the NHS alone.
Last year the funds raised from the NHS Big Tea were reinvested into staff wellbeing initiatives, which included our random acts of kindness days.
The NHS big tea is a project introduced by NHS Charities Together which last year raised funds for over six hundred projects across the UK.
For more information about the NHS Big Tea, and how to fundraise, visit their website at: https://dbthcharity.co.uk/nhs-big-tea/
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The NHS Big Tea is being led by NHS Charities Together on Tuesday 5th July and is an event that they hope will raise vital funds for NHS charities across the country, including Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity. However, it also gives local businesses and communities the chance to express their thanks to the staff and volunteers who have worked through the most challenging period in the history of the NHS at their local hospitals.
Suzy Brain England OBE, Chair of the Board at DBTH, said: “The NHS Big Tea is an event which allows us to celebrate the birthday of the NHS, whilst also raising some vital funds for your local hospital charity. We would therefore love to see as many local companies as possible supporting the event this year by hosting their very own tea party at their workplace.
“Last year’s NHS Big Tea raised £3,000 which was directly invested into health and wellbeing initiatives at the Trust. This year, with the support of the local community, companies, and cafes, we hope to raise even more and would welcome your support.”
Albemarle Homes will be hosting their own NHS Big Tea event this year as they continue their support for DBTH’s Charity. Darryl Barker, Managing Director of Albemarle Homes, said: “We are delighted to be participating once again in this year’s NHS Big Tea charity event. We are a champion of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Charity and all it stands for, as well as pledging £100 for every home we build, our staff, on site and in the office, will be taking five to ‘have a brew’ on the 5th to help raise even more funds and support the important work the charity does.”
Businesses can get involved by hosting a tea party in their workplace on the 5th July, or a day of their choice in July, and could even host a rainbow themed dress down day to help raise funds. All participants will receive a welcome pack which includes balloons, cake flags, donation forms and an event poster and DBTH can also provide collection tins/ buckets and charity t-shirts if required.
All funds raised will contribute towards key projects at the trust supporting colleagues’ mental health as well as providing additional equipment, services, and amenities for patients, visitors, and staff which cannot be funded by the NHS alone.
To sign up to host your own NHS Big Tea event and receive a fundraising support pack, please visit www.dbthcharity.co.uk/nhs-big-tea/.
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