Lions Clubs Support Serenity Suite Appeal

The Serenity appeal was launched by the hospital Trust’s charity to make improvements to maternity facilities and offer a more comforting experience to families going through such a tragedy.

Currently, women who suffer baby loss at Doncaster Royal Infirmary give birth to their sleeping babies on a busy labour ward, where they can hear other families celebrating and the cries of infants being born, making an already difficult experience, even harder.

The launch of this appeal will help Doncaster Royal Infirmary to fund a specialist bereavement suite named the ‘Serenity Suite’. It will be a purpose-built suite, away from the hustle and bustle of the main labour ward, where families can spend time together in a safe, secure, and serene space. A place, where they can grieve the loss of their baby with all of their loved ones, with the support of dedicated Bereavement Midwives.

The Lions Clubs of Tickhill & District and Thorne Rural are pleased to be able to financially support the Serenity Suite Appeal to make difficult times that bit easier for local families.  Together with a matching grant secured from Lions Clubs International Foundation, a total of £33,475.58 will be made available for the purpose-built suite.

Lions member Ron Lindsay says, “this is a significant amount of money that both lions clubs and that of Lions Clubs International Foundation have pledged. Tickhill & District, and Thorne Rural Lions Clubs will continue to fundraise for such a worthy cause, in support of families affected by the loss of their babies.”

This donation is the biggest single donation to the appeal so far and puts the Charity just £20k away from their £150k target which will cover the creation of the Serenity Suite and some additional equipment for Bassetlaw Hospital.

Rhian Morris, Specialist Bereavement Midwife at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, said: “We can’t thank The Lions enough for this generous donation. As a trust, we want to do all that we can to ensure that families get the time and space they need, in privacy, to grieve and be with their child. The creation of the Serenity Suite will allow us to achieve this, and fundraising efforts, such as this tremendous contribution from The Lions, enable us to get one step closer to achieving this goal, so we will be eternally grateful to everyone who donates to the appeal.”

If you wish to support the Serenity Appeal yourself, you can find more information about what the funds will provide and how you can help to fundraise on the charity website at dbthcharity.co.uk