I'm raising money for the Keep Me Close Appeal.

The care of extremely premature and sick babies turns families lives upside down. It is emotionally, physically and financially demanding, placing people under incredible pressure. The best support we can give to parents is the freedom to stay near their newborn child.

The Keep Me Close Appeal opened a home-from-home on 15 November 2019 for the families of babies who are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Derriford Hospital.

It is nearby, it provides our families seven en-suite bedrooms, with a fully functioning kitchen, comfortable communal area and access to laundry facilities. To date (June 2020) we have been able to give 22 families 680 nights of accommodation at no additional cost to them or the hospital.

We need to keep this going.

They need £70,000 per year, or just £33/night/bedroom* to allow peace of mind to parents who are under extreme stress.

Bella - Rae is our daughter and she was born 10 weeks early on the 23rd of October 2023, she was due the 4th of January 2024. She was in NICU for 37 days, and we’ve lived in temporary accommodation next to the hospital called Hearts Together which was free from the charity Keep Me Close. We also got given free parking for the hospital everyday, a free £10 meal voucher every day and swimming too.

I will be Sky Diving on the 5th of May 2024 to fundraise for the charity. I need to fundraise atleast £500 to pay for the sky dive.

I hope you can all help, I appreciate it massively.

Abi, Josh & Bella-Rae xxx