Doncaster midwives raise more than £1,000 for new hospital bereavement suite

Alison Grundy and Erin McNair, who are both employed as midwives at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, collected £1114.25 for the Serenity Appeal at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH) by completing the Doncaster 10K.

Alison and Erin wanted to help make the Serenity Appeal’s goal of improving bereavement care within maternity a reality – and so pulled on their trainers.

As part of the project, a new bereavement suite, entitled ‘The Serenity Suite’, is being created which will be a shielded and peaceful environment for bereaved parents to create memories with their babies in their own time.

The appeal will also allow the Trust to purchase a new scanning machine for Bassetlaw Hospital’s Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU), as well as enable the renovation of the counselling rooms both at DRI and Bassetlaw.

The 10K that both Alison and Erin completed took place on 28 November, with Alison finishing in 1 hour 16 minutes and Erin, who had to participate with a protective boot on her foot, crossing the finish line 2 hours and 6 minutes after setting off.

They decided to keep their JustGiving page open for a couple of weeks after the event itself as they kept on receiving donations, and managed to surpass their initial target of £1000 by £114.25.

Commenting on the run itself, Alison said: “I found the run to be a true competition with myself and felt a real sense of achievement when I crossed the finish line.

"Every kilometre that I ran reminded me of all those who sponsored us and the importance of the cause we were running for, but I now understand the feeling of ‘hitting the wall and running through it’. I honestly did a little jump at the end - where I found the extra energy I don't know.

“But my proudest moment was for Erin. She had a boot on her foot and walked her way around the route supported by the volunteers of the event, she never gave up and completed it with tremendous effort. I dare say this was her hardest marathon yet!”

Alison concluded by saying: “The amount we have raised is far more than I anticipated, and we feel absolutely grateful to every single supporter.

"We read every message that came with those donations and the words of support for us were incredible.

"We would like to talk further with the bereavement midwives to decide how we want these funds to be used in the new bereavement suite, and to demonstrate how fabulous all the contributions are.”

If you would like to get involved in fundraising for the Serenity Suite project, or for any other project at the Trust, please contact the Communications Team on Tel: 01302 644244, email: DBTH.Charity@nhs.net or head to http://www.dbth.nhs.uk/charity. To find out more information about the appeal, please visit https://dbthcharity.co.uk/serenity-appeal/