Last year we lost our premature baby son, Matthew. He was cared for by the excellent neonatal unit at St George's Hospital, Tooting, which is in desperate need of funds to replace their old incubators. We are aiming to raise £20,000 for First Touch, their dedicated charity. You can donate via this site or by text - details below. Thank you very much, Chris and Eleanor

To donate via text, fee-free + GiftAid, just text MATT99 followed by a space then the amount of your donation in £s to 70070. (So a donation of £25 would look like: MATT99 £25)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***MAY 2012: Our great friend Gareth 'Wild Man' Wilding and his band Bodkin Lane played a one-off gig in Shepherd's Bush on Thursday 24th May. It was a belter, and we are hoping to arrange another early 2013. Check out the YouTube clips. Come along to the next! Bring your mates!

Message from the band: It has been said that bands play Bush Hall twice in their careers: once on the way up, and once on the way down... it's good to be back!

Bodkin Lane last played Bush Hall in 2008 to a packed house who danced the night away to our blues and soul classics - see YouTube links below. Back with a new line-up we aim to raise as much as we can for two charities close to our hearts: 

First Touch: http://www.justgiving.com/matthew

Macmillan Nurses: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Donate/Donate.aspx

All profits will go to these charities. If you wish to donate directly to either/both just use the links above. Thanks to everyone for your support; Bodkin Lane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNXUfU85gv8, 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vthddPNGZnQ, 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e69BPsgSO_E 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

***SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2011: Wardy Winters' marathon & Chinese evening together raised a fantastic £536.40. Thanks to everyone for their support and donations, and congratulations to Wardy for managing to fit marathon training and Chinese banquet cooking around looking after 3 small children. Oh, and on a marathon PB!

Message from Wardy: On Sunday 18th September my amazing team and I completed the Henley Ironman 2011! The whole team acquitted itself with honour: Hannah Young swimming  2.5 miles in 1:08:08; Chris Reid cycling 112 miles in 5:45:17, and myself running 26.2 miles in 4:18:52, giving us an aggregate time of 11:15:20.

I was running in support of First Touch, the dedicated charity of the Neonatal Unit at St George's Hospital, Tooting. Every year the unit cares for over 500 sick and premature babies from all over the country and gives them the very best chance of survival and quality of life. 

My reason for supporting this charity is that in January 2011 George's cousin Eleanor went into premature labour at 23 weeks. Baby Matthew put up a huge fight but despite the exceptional care provided by the unit sadly he died 6 days later.

During their week in the unit Eleanor and her husband Chris witnessed the huge amount of care needed to support every single premature baby. Almost all the babies cared for by the unit do survive and thrive. However, each night a baby spends in neonatal intensive care costs the unit £1200, and their budget for new equipment is very stretched, especially in the current economic climate.

100% of your donation will go towards the funding of much-needed life-saving equipment.

From me, and from Matthew's parents and St George's Hospital, thank you all very much for your support for First Touch.

Lots of love from Wardy XX

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 1st 2011

Dear friends, family and colleagues,

To our immense shock Matthew Christopher Jaques, due on May 21st, was born 4 months premature on Wednesday 26th January 2011, weighing 1lb 3oz (630g). 

He was just a couple of weeks too early to stand a good chance and despite his best efforts and those of the neonatal unit at St George's Hospital Matthew died on February 1st. We were lucky enough to be with him at the end, which was very quiet and peaceful.

St George's neonatal unit treats 500 premature babies a year. The care it provides is exceptional - it takes in babies born in other hospitals as well - and it is staffed by skilled and dedicated individuals who seem to have also been selected for their warmth and kindness. 

They insert lines into tiny veins, fine-tune treatments, wrap babies in little woolly bonnets and micro-sized pampers, and hold daily discussions with confused and desperate parents. The unit also provides facilities including a sitting room, a shower, and a couple of bedrooms so parents can close their eyes in the knowledge that they are only 30 seconds away from their baby.

Many of you have been kind enough to send messages which have been of immense comfort. Almost all of you ask if there is anything you can do to help. Like any NHS neonatal unit St George's is desperate for funds. If you felt able to donate to their First Touch fund it would allow them to buy much-needed equipment for these delicate patients and to continue to provide the additional support to parents which has been of such comfort to us. Please see below for the unit's priority list of items needed.

Thank you all for your kindness and support. Please forward this link to anyone you think might be interested.

Chris and Eleanor

Thank you to Tony, Nigel, Justin, Tonie, Ursula, Victoria, Eden, Sam, Jennifer, Amy, Andy, Vinod, Charlotte, and anyone we have missed out, and to Melissa in the delivery unit.

From Justin Richards, Neonatal Consultant at St George's

Dear Eleanor, St George's neonatal unit priority “wish list” is as follows:

1x Isolette C8000 Incubator @ £12,500

1x Stephanie Ventilator @ £26-30,000

3x Apnoea Monitors @ £190.00 each

2x Phototherapy units @ £2,000 each

2x Biliblanket phototherapy devices @ £2,500 each

1x Resuscitaire unit @ £7,600

I am very keen that you do not feel pressure to raise a set amount, and have deliberately included equipment across a wide price scale. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is anything further that I can do, or any further support I can offer. Best wishes,