Damien Gavigan

Damien's page

Fundraising for Bibs Babies In Buscot Support
£1,681
raised of £750 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Event: Sage Reading Half Marathon 2021, on 7 November 2021
"Team BIBS 2020" is an amazing group of individuals coming together to support Babies in Buscot Support (BIBS) and running the 2020 Reading Half Marathon to help save tiny lives.

Story

Back in April, I welcomed my second child, Freddie George, into the world. To be fair "welcomed" probably doesn't cover it as he came out kicking and screaming 5 weeks ahead of plan. As a result, he had to spend two weeks in the neonatal baby care unit (Buscot). All joking aside Freddie faced a number of battles as he made a rocky start to life. This was an incredibly difficult time for my family but was made a million times better due to the unbelievable team that run the Buscot ward.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I mentioned to my wife that I would really like to do something to show our appreciation and gratitude to the team. They were very important in not only getting Freddie better but also helping Kim and I get our heads around the situation we found ourselves in. Now, I meant to write a thank you card, send some flowers, buy some biscuits for their staff room etc but in a moment of madness, I have now entered into run a half Marathon which turns out will be on Freddie's 1st birthday!

I've included some photos below of the amazing equipment that was crucial to helping Freddie turn into the happy robust little chap he is today. I could not be more motivated to help other families receive the same amazing care; so all donations are received with genuine and absolute gratitude.

Babies in Buscot Support (BIBS) raise funds to give sick and premature newborns at the RBH the best possible start in life. The charity is run by parents that have had a baby spend time on Buscot Ward. That is why we care so deeply and want to make the experience for all babies admitted to Buscot Ward and their families the best it can possibly be. Their work focuses on four main areas of activity, which they call keeping Buscot families "SAFE":

Support - providing families with independent emotional support while their baby is on Buscot, and beyond. 

Awareness - help inform parents about what to expect from a stay on Buscot by providing written information and we raise awareness of issues related to prematurity or sickness at birth. 

Facilities - refurbish facilities and accommodation in the ward. 

Equipment - fund state of the art equipment for the ward including incubators, cardiac monitors, ventilators, phototherapy units and much more.

Share this story

Help Damien Gavigan

Sharing this page with your friends could help raise up to 3x more in donations

You can also help by sharing this link on

About the campaign

"Team BIBS 2020" is an amazing group of individuals coming together to support Babies in Buscot Support (BIBS) and running the 2020 Reading Half Marathon to help save tiny lives.

About the charity

Bibs Babies In Buscot Support

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1168487
BIBS supports babies and their families on the neonatal unit, Buscot Ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. Funds raised go towards funding life-saving equipment for the ward, providing emotional support, raising awareness and improving ward facilities.

Donation summary

Total raised
£1,680.70
Online donations
£1,680.70
Offline donations
£0.00

* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.