Royal Preston Hospital children’s ward receive £1,000 donation

Rebecca Arestidou (left) receiving the donation from Nicola Dickinson, customer consultant at Preston Yorkshire Building Society. Pic: Rosemere Cancer Foundation.

A donation of £1,000 will be used to buy a milk thawing and warming device, to help new mothers in the children’s ward at Royal Preston Hospital.

The donation was received by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals’ Children’s Appeal, after being nominated by colleagues from Yorkshire Building Society in Preston, as part of the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation.

The scheme supports charities across the UK, donating over £9 million last year.

The warming and thawing device will help mums express, freeze and then re-heat milk to the correct temperature for babies who are being breastfed, which is approximately 20 babies per month in Preston Hospital.

Donations to the Children’s Appeal are spent on a list of items which will make the ward and department more comfortable for young patients and their parents and carers.

Rebecca Arestidou, part of the Children’s Appeal fundraising team, said: “We are really thankful for the donation from the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation. It will help us support family-integrated care on the ward.”

Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation is funded through the ‘Small Change Big Difference’ scheme, members donate money from the interest on their accounts once a year.

Lynda Partington, manager of Yorkshire Building Society in Preston, said: “We are proud to be able to support the Children’s Appeal in our community in Preston with a donation from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation. The work it is doing to support young patients and their families and carers is providing a real benefit to their lives.”