Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust’s charity ‘dreamdrops’ received a donation of £100 for the Special Care Baby Unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital along with £100 for the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge.

The money was raised by Ilaria Di Rita (aged 9) whose brother was cared for on the unit.  Ilaria arranged for her class mates to meet at the park near Wheatfield’s School, in St Ives, where they did a sponsored danceathon and run to raise money for the unit.  Ilaria said: “I wanted to raise money for the unit who work hard every day and who saved my brother’s life.”

Merinda Di Rita, Ilaira’s mother said:  "Luigino was extremely poorly when born. He had to have an emergency blood transfusion and was then rushed to the Rosie and put onto a life support machine. We were told after my C section that we only had around an hour to have him delivered otherwise it would have been a very different story.

“That night we had consultants working on Luigino giving him blood transfusions. They worked quickly and ultimately because of this they saved his life.”

Dr Nik Johnson, Consultant Paediatrician said: “We provide a high quality of care to all the children on the unit, and we are delighted to hear how well Luigino is progressing.  We are extremely grateful to Ilaria for raising this money which will greatly benefit the children in our care.”

Anne-Marie Hamilton, Chairman of Dreamdrops said: “A huge thank you to Ilaria and her friends and what a wonderful way to raise money for the Special Care Baby Unit.  The money raised will be used to purchase baby massage mats. The unit offers mums and their babies the opportunity to come back to a massage class to help with their bonding and attachment. These will help to make the experience of baby massage much more comfortable.”

For more information about our charity dreamdrops please visit:

http://dreamdropschildrenscharity.org or email dreamdrops.dreamdrops@nhs.net.