Go ahead Bake my day

Cake the Difference Week 14th to 20th February 2011, originally uploaded by sparklingbizzy.

The text in the photo says it all here it is again

Cake the Difference Week 14th to 20th February 2011

Imagine if you were unable to touch or kiss your newborn baby. This is an ordeal thousands of families, whose child arrives too soon, too small or too sick, are forced to go through each year. But you can help. By baking and selling cupcakes, you’ll be raising funds to help support families during what can be a very lonely and frightening time, and to provide a brighter future for their babies.

Eleanor pictured behind the cake was 12 weeks premature. She weighed 1lb 4oz at birth and had an exceptionally rocky 5 month road to home. Bliss provided us as a family invaluable support. They still do today over 3 years later. With the very premature, sick babies the consequences live with you day in day out. Eleanor is deaf the cause of her deafness is her prematurity. She's small another characteristic of her prematurity, she has a weak chest and is very vulnerable to chest infections, viruses etc and frequently requires hospital stays. All of this because she was premature. We have come a long way in the last 3 years and I can honestly say without the support of Bliss I might not have got the care I needed to be able to carry Lucy to term. They got me into a fantastic network of people. I'm pleased that I can repay the favour by supporting this cause and providing parent views on neonatal issues.


Some facts and figures:

• There is a shortage of 1,150 nurses to care for the 70,000 babies in need of specialist hospital care in England. Less than a third of units have enough nurses to meet minimum standards.
• Neonatal units are working way above recommended occupancy levels meaning there is no safety net for peaks in the number of babies being admitted to units.
• Families of babies admitted to specialist hospital care face a crippling financial strain on top of the normal costs of having a new baby.
• Over half of parents face the prospect of not being able to stay near their baby in hospital due to a shortage of overnight rooms for families.

Cake A Difference is the annual fundraising initiative from Bliss, the special care baby charity. Bliss offers guidance and information at a critical time in families' lives, funds ground-breaking research and campaigns for babies to receive the best possible level of care regardless of when and where they are born. Cake A Difference 2011 takes place from 14-20 February 2011. For more ideas on how you can support Bliss contact katiaw@bliss.org.uk

we're baking a difference on Monday 21st February 2011 so if you're local to me please come and join us the details are on the cake a difference map!

finally if you want to help make a difference my just giving page is

www.justgiving.com/eleanorscakeday

Go ahead, bake my day!