A Shropshire village hall welcomed a very special line-up of mini models as they unveiled their latest fundraising calendar. The little stars were all cared for by the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital’s special care baby unit after being born prematurely or with health difficulties.
And as a thank you to the staff who treated them, the now-bouncing babies have posed for a calendar with hopes high it will raise at least £10,000 for the unit.
The children’s families are all members of Butons – the Birth Unit Team of Neonatal Support. The charity’s two previous calendars raised around £16,000. Pictured are Julie and Andrew Randles with their twins Tobias and Nathaniel, who appeared as December.
The calendar features members’ babies as testament to the work of the unit. The pictures were taken at Berrington village hall, near Shrewsbury, earlier this year.
And yesterday it was a hive of activity again as the models and their families returned to celebrate the launch of the 2007 calendar.
Deb Whitby, a leading member of Butons, said the photo shoot took place only weeks after this year’s calendar sold out. And they expect the 2007 publication to be just as popular.
“We are hoping it will be a real success story again,” said Deb, who knows only too well about the marvellous work done at the unit which cared for her daughter Eve after she was born at just 26 weeks.
“We’re primarily raising cash for vital equipment. We’ve all been in that situation and want to ensure they have the absolute best equipment there,” she said.
“Every baby has their own story and we tell a bit of it in the calendar and it was lovely to see all the children together again yesterday to mark the launch of the calendar.”
By Tracey O’Sullivan
See Also:
Share this article:
What are these?