Generous supporters help raise £25,000 for maternity appeal in just two weeks

Generous residents across the area have helped get the BayB's Maternity Appeal off to a flying start towards its ambitious £250,000 target.

Local businesses have also stepped forward to help with sponsorship money and fundraising events.

The latest firm to offer help has been Furness Plastics, after its bosses provided an eight-foot thermometer to illustrate the ever rising total collected.

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Heidi Bowron, appeal fundraiser, said the sign would help hospital patients and visitors to keep track of the maternity fund's progress.

"It was very kind of Furness Plastics to do this for us completely free of charge and shows how people from all walks of life have really taken the appeal to heart."

Mrs Bowron added: "Such is the interest, we have already raised £25,000 towards our target."

Construction work is continuing on the £11m maternity unit which is on track to be completed by December.

It will feature en-suite rooms, a special care baby unit, two dedicated operating theatres, a bereavement suite and a training area.

The money raised will be used to purchase items not affordable to the NHS that will make a real difference to the families who use the unit in the future.

These include birthing pools, television screens, music docking stations, stay over beds for partners and a stay over room for parents whose babies are too sick to go home.

The most expensive item on the shopping list - around £100,000 - is a life-sized state of the art patient who can mimic a variety of birthing scenarios to provide advanced training for doctors and midwives.

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