Staff and residents at a Fen care home rallied together in support of a colleague who recently lost her baby at birth in a “heart-breaking tragedy”.
More than £2,000 was raised for Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn after care home nurse Egle lost her son Adas earlier this year.
She wanted to do something to show her appreciation to staff who helped her through the tough time and something in memory of her son.
Egle, of Orchard House care home in Wisbech, said: “I wanted to say thank you to the amazing staff, I wanted to say it in more than just in words.
“I spoke with foetal medicines and bereavement midwife Sharon Younge and asked if there was anything I could do.
“That is when she told me about their campaign to build a Maternity Bereavement Suite.”
The Bereavement Suite aims to provide a place for families who lose their babies either during or shortly after birth.
Egle added: “I’d experienced what it was like to not have my baby, but still be able to hear all the other new-born babies in the same ward as me.
“I knew how other families would feel and wanted to do all I could to support their fundraising in the hope that the facility would be a comfort.”
At first Egle only told her family and friends about the campaign who all came together and started fundraising.
When Egle returned to work, she spoke with the home’s registered manager Maxine Bain who immediately responded with, “What can we do, how can we help?”
The Orchard House ‘family’ sprang into action, suggesting ideas on how they could fundraise as well.
The firm favourite was to have a ‘fun day’ which would bring everyone together, staff and residents alike, to help raise as much money as possible in memory of Adas.
On the actual day, the sun shone and even though socially distanced, everyone enjoyed the music, food and refreshments, games, raffles and an auction.
A spokesperson for the home said: “This was the main event of the day.
“As well as lots from staff and families, we were also kindly donated numerous hampers and gift vouchers from various companies to help us.
“We’ve had great support from our local community.”
When all of the donations were totalled up, they had raised over £1,500 for the Bereavement Suite and far surpassed their original fundraising target of £1,000.
The amount increased even further when RCH Care Homes, the care provider under which Orchard House Care Home belongs to, donated an additional £500, resulting in a total of over £2,000.
Egle and her family recently presented the cheque to the Queen Elizabeth team who were blown away by the substantial donation raised by Egle, her family and Orchard House.
Egle said: “I couldn’t believe the amount of money that was raised in memory of my son Adas.
“There are no words to say what it has meant.
“I have been a part of Orchard House for six years and they are like another family to me”.
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