This is Naomi and Jo. They have been working at the Hearts Milk Bank since May. They check, sort and pasteurise the milk donated by scores of wonderful mums, so that it is ready to feed tiny babies in neonatal units across our region.

They have been very busy.

In the last 10 months, they have pasteurised over 500 litres of donated milk, and so much is coming in that we ran out of freezer space!

(A very full freezer)

Our wonderful supporters came to our aid, and now we have enough freezer space to supply the region and more.

It's a new year, and we have a new challenge. We can make sure milk is available for researchers up and down the UK - helping them to solve how human milk protects against infections and disease. We have so much to do, equipment to bring in and staff to train. We need time until we are fully sustainable by ourselves, and time is running out. If we are to get the research going, as well as continue to grow to meet the needs of our region's hospitals, we need your help.

Please help us to build on the great foundations we have laid, and help even more babies and their parents.