Member Article

Local housebuilder supports baby hospice with a donation of Christmas trees for crucial seasonal fundraising

Leading local housebuilder is donating Christmas trees to Middlesbrough baby hospice to raise funds as part of a Wish Tree campaign.

Five star housebuilder, Barratt Developments North East, named Zoё’s Place Baby Hospice as its charity of the year early in 2021, having supported the charity since 2019.

As part of its commitment to the charity, the local housebuilder has donated 30 Christmas trees to Zoё’s Place where they will be displayed in Rosedene Nurseries across the Tees Valley region. Acting as wish trees, they will give parents, carers, and staff the opportunity to send a wish to someone they love and make a donation to Zoё’s Place.

Setting out to raise £10,000 for the charity, the Christmas tree donation is just one of many ways the local housebuilder has supported the hospice this year. Other fundraisers by Barratt Developments North East include its employees taking part in the Great North Run in September.

The Barratt Developments Group will also match the total amount raised for the year in its mission to support the communities in which it builds.

Zoё’s Place, like many charities, was sadly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Once open twenty-four hours, seven days a week, Zoë’s Place now operates on a reduced service where they are open four days a week with a waiting list in place.

Zoё’s Place provides vital services including palliative, respite, and end-of-life care to babies and infants from birth to five years of age, who are living with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. As well as caring for its patients in a safe ‘home from home’ environment, the baby hospice also provides a bereavement support group and sibling group for families. In order to provide its services to all families, Zoë’s Place is required to raise £1.1m every year, but as it receives very minimal funding, Zoё’s Place heavily relies on voluntary donations and fundraising activities.

Sara Benson, Corporate and Major Donor Fundraiser at Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the team at Barratt Developments North East for their dedication to our hospice. Our hospice is so important for the babies and families we support and Christmas time can be particularly hard for families with children who have life-threatening conditions. The services we provide are only possible through the generosity and kindness of volunteers and sponsors.”

“It costs £3,000 per day to keep our doors open and with the pandemic stopping a lot of our fundraising efforts, it has meant we’ve had to reduce the care we can offer. Myself and my colleagues at the hospice extend our heartfelt thanks for the time and effort the team at Barratt Developments North East has put into supporting us during this challenging time.”

Emily Watson, Sales Manager at Barratt Developments North East, commented: “We hope the trees will boost funding for Zoë’s place at this crucial point in the year. We’re excited to see how much we have raised at the end of the year and hope to see our friends at Zoë’s Place continue the vital work they do for families across the North East.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Savage .