Charity

Each year different charities are selected to receive the sponsorship money raised by the event and over 18 years £765,000 has been raised in total for a wide variety of worthy causes. In 2011 one local charity - The Rosie Hospital campaign was chosen to benefit from the money raised.

The Rosie Hospital Campaign, run by ACT the charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, aims to develop the current maternity hospital, one of the finest maternity hospitals in the country where women and their babies receive the very best maternity, neonatal and gynaecological care in a safe, clean and friendly environment.

Opened in 1983, the hospital looks after low and high-risk patients, with patients being referred throughout the East of England. It is one of only three ‘level three’ designated neonatal units in the region - which means newborn babies with complex medical problems and those who require surgery can be cared for. In addition, the Rosie is home to the regional Acute Neonatal Transport Service (ANTS), which provides round-the-clock transport for sick babies in eastern England.

The Rosie is now 30 years old and demand has outgrown capacity. To continue to provide the best care, facilities need to be expanded and services further improved to meet the anticipated increases in both the quantity and complexity of cases. During 2008 and 2009, almost 5,700 babies were born at the Rosie - 1,700 more than it was designed to cope with. By 2020, the figure is predicted to be 7,500, so expansion is essential.

At present, the restricted space means that women are occasionally transferred to other units. With a larger birth centre and noenatal unit, all mothers and infants can be rest assured that they will be cared for in the comfort of their nearest hospital.

Education and research is another important element of the Rosie’s work. The redevelopment will create a regional centre of clinical excellence for training new generations of maternity, neonatal and gynaecological staff. In the longer term, it will also set new standards of care by advancing antenatal and neonatal development through research programmes.

The new three-storey extension will mean the Rosie will almost double in size. There will be a public garden for patients, visitors and staff to enjoy. The key facilities will include:

- Mother and Baby Imaging Centre

- Rosie Birth Centre

- Neonatal Intensive and Special Care Unit

- Parent and Family Accommodation

- Fetal Medicine and Day Assessment Unit

- Counselling Services

For more information on the Rosie campaign click here to visit their website.