Cake bakes, bag packing, exercise bike sessions and tombolas have all helped Marks & Spencer in Wednesbury raise £1571.64 towards improving rooms for parents who need to be with their premature babies in the Neonatal Unit at Walsall Manor Hospital.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s charity Well Wishers teamed up with Marks & Spencer back in May 2019 for the fundraising focus. Staff at the store considered three potential fundraising appeals by different charities but Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s Neonatal Unit secured the most votes.

Staff set to work to raise money for the appeal and M&S Team Manager James Gorton and former Community Champion Carol Smith visited Well Wishers’ Fundraising Hub to hand over the results of all their hard work.

James said: “When the partnership was set up none of us anticipated a global pandemic and this obviously affected our original timescales for this fundraising activity.

“But we’re delighted to be able to hand over a healthy amount for what is a very important project. I’d like to thank Carol for all her hard work and encouragement during the course of the appeal and all the staff who supported it.”

Lisa Poston, Neonatal Unit Senior Nurse/Ward Manager, said: “Our parents will benefit enormously from this fantastic fundraising as it means we can make the rooms as homely as possible for them at what is a really difficult time for them.

“A huge thank you to M&S for all their efforts.”

Georgie Westley, Fundraising Manager, added: “It has been a pleasure to work with M&S and I’d also like to echo James’s thanks to Carol for getting this off the ground for us in the first place. The new rooms will make such a difference to our families.”