On 18 December 2009, 10.00am, students from The Radcliffe School, Milton Keynes, will donate over £1,000 to the Neonatal Unit at Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The young people raised the money through a huge fundraising drive, which involved non-uniform days, a chocolate apple stall, cake sales and a Santa’s Grotto for teenagers. The pupils, aged 11- 16, also initiated an ‘elf and fairy hit squad’, which involved delivering poems and surprise visits to teachers and students across the school, on request.

Milton Keynes Hospital’s Little Lives Appeal aims to raise funds for the Neonatal Unit, which will go towards a full refurbishment and redesign of the Unit. The Neonatal Unit helps save the lives of over 350 premature and critically ill babies born each year. Vital equipment and an appropriate environment are needed to provide the most sophisticated care to these special patients.

Michele Rogers, Teacher of Food and Health and Social Care at The Radcliffe School, said: “The Neonatal Unit at Milton Keynes Hospital touches the lives of many people across the city, and I am pleased that pupils from The Radcliffe School have been able to make a substantial contribution to the Little Lives Appeal.”

"In addition to the activities carried out by our students, a member of staff walked to school on stilts, collecting spare change!"

Neonatal care has developed dramatically over the last 20 years, and improved technology and advances in medical and nursing expertise means that we can now care for babies born very early in pregnancy and who are sick at birth.

Babies admitted to the Neonatal Unit receive intensive, high dependency and special care. Neonatal or ‘special care’ babies are often called miracle babies, and their lives frequently depend on advancements in modern medicine.

Glenda Deacon, Manager of the Neonatal Unit at Milton Keynes Hospital, said: “There’s an increasing demand for our specialist services and we need to develop our facilities to ensure that fragile little lives continue to be saved. Milton Keynes Hospital plans to add a further four high dependency cots, and a complete refurbishment is needed to enable the hospital to permanently increase capacity to 22 cots, and allow equipment to be upgraded."

“One in 10 babies born in and around Milton Keynes needs to use our Neonatal Unit. It may only be for a couple of days, or for as long as six months, but our new Unit will be vital in increasing the survival and developmental chances of premature and sick babies.”

“All babies are special, but babies that need extra support and care after birth in a Neonatal Unit are those who may have been born early, or may be very small or may be born very sick. Most babies are admitted to the Neonatal Unit because they are premature and have been born several weeks or months earlier than expected.”

Over £91,500 has been raised for the Little Lives Appeal at Milton Keynes Hospital, to date.

A temporary extension has been added onto the existing Unit until the new Neonatal Unit is completed, but we still need more cots to ensure we can treat more babies.

For further information, interviews or images please contact: Jenny Murray, Communications Manager, Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, tel: 01908 243922, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

· The hospital will provide the funding for the staff to run the unit. Additional staff costs following the refurbishment are approximately £500,000.The Trust will also provide additional equipment and the 4 additional cots. Each cot costs around £10,000.

· Photographers are welcome to take images of the ‘elf and fairy hit squad’ and Santa visiting the Neonatal Unit at Milton Keynes Hospital at 10am on Friday.