Supporters of Baby Beat and LTHC (Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity) went round in circles, walking Preston’s Guild Wheel to raise over £4,100 for the two causes.
The group set offfrom the Toll Bar Cottage Community Café to pick up the scenic, traffic-free path in what was a first Wheel Walk for the sister charities with sponsorship from Preston construction and architectural management group Day CM Ltd, Day PM Ltd and Day Architectural Ltd.
Walk organiser, LTHC and Baby Beat fundraiser Lucy Clark, said: “A massive thank you to everyone who turned out to take on this new challenge for us.
“We offered distance options of five, 10 and the wheel’s full 21 miles. Everyone walked at least 10 miles, showing real commitment, with two-thirds of the group completing the entire wheel.”
As well as choosing which charity they wanted to support, walkers backing LTHC were also given the opportunity to specify which Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTHTR) service they wished their donation to go towards.
Lucy explained: “Although the majority of our walkers were from the Preston area, some were from further afield. This was because through RPH, the Royal Preston Hospital, LTHTR is the regional specialist provider for the whole of Lancashire and South Cumbria across a number of specialisms. These include Major Trauma and Neurosurgery, which encompasses complex neurosurgery and neuro-rehabilitation.
“RPH is also the regional hub for managing all elective and emergency vascular surgery. It has specialist units for MND, Burns, Stroke, Immunology and Allergy, while its Specialist Mobility Rehabilitation Centre provides specialised prosthetic, orthotic, and wheelchair services, including a rehab gym, for patients and veterans across the North West. RPH is also home to Lancashire’s SAFE Centre, Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Centre.”
Lucy added: “The RPH’s Sharoe Green Maternity Unit has the regional specialist NICU – Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – which looks after between 400 to 450 of Lancashire and South Cumbria’s most premature and poorly babies annually and is supported by Baby Beat. RPH therefore means a lot to many more people than just those able to call it their local hospital.”