We, the Eddystone Eight, are a newly formed group of dads that met through the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) antenatal group formed in September 2016. Since the birth of our babies in October/November 2016 we have remained friends and would like to raise money for a charity close to our hearts.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Derriford Hospital cares for babies born from around the South West who have either been born prematurely or with other life threatening illnesses. As the ward has the highest level of expertise and equipment, the ward cares for babies from all over the South West and babies are often transferred from other hospitals for a higher level of care when needed. It is the only ward of its type this side of Bristol. In 2014 alone, the ward cared for 1209 babies and their families. 

We would be delighted if you would consider supporting the “Keep me Close” campaign aimed at providing new and improved parental accommodation for the parents of babies on the ward. Because of the nature of the babies the parents of the babies are encouraged to remain close by as, sadly, the lives of their children hang in the balance.

During the time a baby is on the ward, they house as many parents as possible in the on-site accommodation. This is generally reserved for those parents who do not live in Plymouth so that they do not have a long travel in case they have to be involved in their baby's treatment or discussions with the medical professionals. As you can imagine on an Intensive Care Unit, conditions can worsen very quickly. Currently they are only able to house four sets of parents. Three of the rooms are double rooms while one has a single bed and a put-up bed for emergencies. The rooms share one toilet and one shower and a microwave for cooking meals. These are hardly the best conditions for parents to live in with mothers who have recently given birth and expressing breast milk for their critically ill children. As it stands at the moment, as there are only 4 rooms, it is also the case that only the parents of four babies from out of area can remain on the ward. Any further parents would have to seek expensive alternative arrangements. The hospital do all in their power to ensure that this does not happen but it can lead to the parents of the “least-poorly” baby being asked to leave the ward. This is likely to be the case with most parents eventually and most find it heart breaking to have to leave their baby in the hospital when at a time then they may still be tube fed, totally reliant on a machine to assist them with breathing and weighing as little as 1lb in weight.

It has long been the dream of the hospital staff to provide better accommodation for the parents of the babies they care for and to provide a greater number of rooms to enable all “out of area” parents to remain on site for the duration of their baby’s care. These parents are dealing with an incredibly stressful time and creating a "home from home" would really help to take away a small amount of this stress by enabling life to remain as normal as possible under the circumstances.

If the hospital want to develop an area like this, they need to provide the funds for it themselves. They therefore introduced their "Keep me Close" campaign (all dealt with under the general charitable umbrella of the Plymouth Hospitals General Charity with Registered Charity Number 1048679), aiming to raise
the £2 million it is going to cost to completely redevelop a new area of the hospital and provide the parents of the babies with that all important home
from home with en-suite bedrooms giving the families the space and privacy that these times require, fully functioning kitchens to enable the parents to prepare nutritious meals assisting in the well being of the parents and washing machines to enable the parents to truly be able to survive away from home.

The Eddystone Pursuit takes place every year and is the South West's biggest charity sailing event. The race takes place from Plymouth then 13 Nautical Miles offshore where the yachts navigate the Eddystone Reef and sail around the world famous Eddystone Lighthouse before making their way back to Plymouth. 

Some members of the Eddystone Eight have never set foot on a yacht, so to undertake a 26 nautical mile yacht race (as the crow files) is not an easy challenge. We are hoping for nice weather, but very doubtful!! Once offshore the weather can change very quickly, the swell and wind can be wild and we could be in for a rough ride.

Tor Renown will be berthed in Queen Anne's Battery Marina on Friday evening and any well wishers are more than welcome to come aboard meet the crew and share a beer with us.

We will be setting off about 0800 from the start line just off from the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club. We aim to complete the race within seven hours beating Tor Renown's' previous record which had us completing the race covering 34 nautical miles.

We know it's a lot to ask you to give away your hard earnt money, however it is for a great cause and will mean so much to so many. So please dig deep and take the time to sponsor us as much as you can spare.

More information about the race, the yacht and NICU can below and at the following links 

https://www.eddystonepursuit.com

https://www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/nicu-keep-me-close

https://www.facebook.com/groups/969448093085582/

Yacht Tor Renown

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IZEWlE_W7OQ

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.