Following government advice on the escalating Covid-19 situation in the UK, Baby Beat, in line with government and public health advice, is making a number of changes to how we operate from tomorrow, Thursday 19thMarch.
With the Maternity Unit in which we are based now seeking to reduce footfall to a minimum, and in order to protect patients, staff and volunteers, we have asked our amazing and loyal team of shop and trolley volunteers to stand down from their rota duties from Thursday 19th March until further notice. Our plan at the moment is to keep the shop open for just a few hours each day to service the needs of the staff working in the unit, but during these times the shop will be staffed by the Baby Beat team and potentially members of the wider charity team in the Hospital Trust if required. An email has been sent to all our volunteers to inform them of this and for those who don’t have an email address, we will be calling them today.
We have sadly cancelled the supermarket collections we planned for Morrison’s on Friday 27th March and Sainsbury’s on Thursday 9th April and we have also cancelled the sale of our Easter raffle tickets in the foyer of Royal Preston Hospital in the week of 30th April. If you had volunteered to help at any of these fundraising events, thank you, but unfortunately you will no longer be needed. Please also be aware that the Stephen Bayliss charity evening due to take place on Friday 3rd April, which I know some of our supporters were planning to attend, has also been postponed.
For the time being, where possible, our office will continue to be open in office hours, so if you would like to contact us please call 01772 524414. Do leave a message if we are not able to take your call and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
As a small charity, we will feel the impact of the Baby Beat shop closure and the upcoming fundraising events we are associated with being cancelled or postponed. These are unprecedented times and your ongoing support during and after this crisis has passed will be crucial in ensuring Baby Beat can continue to fund specialist equipment and services for mothers, babies and families in the Maternity Unit. Please keep checking our social media for regular updates on our progress and all our potential fundraising activities for later in the year.
We know that this a worrying time for everyone and our thoughts are especially with those people affected by Covid-19. We also want to thank our colleagues in the NHS who are on the front line of treatment and who are vital to the country coming through this crisis in the coming weeks and months.
In the meantime please continue to follow the government’s guidelines and advice on Covid-19 here – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/