Spoons' team of staff and volunteers are there to support families in Greater Manchester who are experiencing neonatal care. On 21st December 2020, Mitchell and I were thrown into an unknown world we never even contemplated would be part of our story becoming parents to Lucas. Lucas was born at 32 weeks and we spent just over 3 weeks in NICU, after a couple of days of being discharged we found ourselves admitted back to hospital due to Lucas’ inability to feed independently, he had severe silent reflux and other complications. Following this Lucas then suffered from a feeding aversion and was unable to feed or have anything put into his mouth, we stayed a further 5 weeks in hospital whilst Lucas underwent tests and received help from an amazing speech and language therapist Barbara. We were eventually discharged from hospital (which was in the height of Covid!) and were trained to feed Lucas through his NG tube until he was able to feed through a bottle independently.

This time was incredibly tough and shocking to witness our tiny little boy fighting everyday to be strong. We are so proud of him, but there is no way we could have done it without the support from Spoons charity not only at the beginning but for years after. Once discharged when the classes began running again under COVID regulations, we attended baby massage classes with other babies and mums that had experienced the same as us and was even reunited with one of Lucas’ room mates from NICU! We met amazing families who we still see and speak to regularly and it was amazing not to feel different to anyone else as everyone there had been through similar ❤️

We have also attended weaning sessions for families who had experienced NICU as well as attending monthly sensory sessions which were organised and lead by Spoons too.. these sessions were amazing for Lucas who struggled with exploring his senses. But I think the biggest support spoons have given since Lucas’ birth have been trauma therapy sessions. Around a year after Lucas’ birth I began struggling with what we had been through as a family and the things Lucas had gone through, Spoons were able to provide trauma therapy sessions where I underwent EMDR therapy to help overcome this and process my experiences.

I will never be able to put into words just how much Spoons Charity helped our family when we were most in need and we will be forever grateful for that. So here comes my giving back!!! It only felt right that my first 10K would be for Spoons, I would love to be able to raise as much as possible to help give back in anyway I can and raise awareness as I go!!

Spoons are committed to supporting family-centred care, improving family facilities, and providing emotional and practical support to parents experiencing neonatal care. They provide parent peer support, support parents following discharge from neonatal care, raise awareness of neonatal care and raise funds to improve patient experience and family services on the neonatal unit.

£15 could fund a Spoons neonatal pack, providing families with resources to support them from the start

£50 could fund a community group session, providing families with a safe space to access support

£70 could fund a trauma therapy session, helping parents recover from the trauma of neonatal care

Thankyou so much for your support ❤️