Sarah Collins of First Touch NNU in Tooting on how they’ll be celebrating Father’s Day this month, plus some exciting news for later in the year.

Most of the money we receive in donations at First Touch is used to fund state of the art medical equipment for the neonatal unit at St George's. But we also believe strongly that we need to support the families who have a poorly and/or premature baby.

On Sunday the UK celebrates Father’s Day, and we want to ensure that our dads in Tooting realise how valued they are. Thanks to generous donations we are giving every dad a book to read to their baby, a 'best dad' keyring, chocolate bars and sweets. We know that no-one expects to spend their first Fathers' Day sitting with their fragile baby in hospital, so we are trying to make the day just a tiny bit easier for them. And we hope that next year our dads will be home with their sons and daughters, and able to celebrate their special day properly.

You might remember our recent campaign to fund 'Kangaroo Care' reclining chairs. We've bought 20 of these, thanks to £29,000 in donations, and they are now in use on the wards. We wanted to find a simple way for parents to relax and be cosy when they are giving their babies 'skin to skin' cuddles, so this month we are rolling out a brand new scheme where we are giving each baby's family a bag containing slippers, an eye mask and a large hand made blanket. We have been incredibly lucky to have teamed up with the terrific people at Handmade With Love, who have clever knitters and crocheters creating beautiful blankets for us. Their crafters can create a 50'' by 50'' (127 cms) blanket on their own, or send blanket squares measuring 5'' by 5'' (12.7 cms) which are then sewn together in lines of ten. If you'd like to get involved, please them via their Facebook page.
 

We have also received a beautiful blanket that was made by the wonderful women of Tooting WI, and sewn together by Carlene Bremner. We have 600 babies each year, so we will need a regular supply of blankets. The families will take the blankets home with them, as a memento of the time their baby spent in neonatal care.

Next month we hope to have some exciting news regarding the remote access video connection that we are working on with VCreate, and which will make a big difference to families as they'll be able to see their baby at the hospital even when they are at home at night. We'll keep you posted!
 

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