Bosses at the Tyne Tunnel have offered a lifeline to the parents of sick new-born babies across the North East by making a sincerely generous donation to the Tiny Lives Trust.
TT2 have handed over £10,000 in total, which will pay for the transportation of approximately 350 families to and from hospital to visit their poorly youngsters for a whole year.
Tiny Lives Trust’s transport scheme enables parents to spend invaluable time with their sick children by removing the financial burden of transport. In July 2022 the charity saw a 100 per cent increase in the need for their vital transport support scheme, compared with July 2021.
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The donation from TT2 will pay for hospital parking permits for those who drive, as well as public transport travel passes for those who aren't able to. Those in the greatest hardship will also receive support with fuel costs.
It is estimated that neonatal families across England lose out £405 a week on average when their baby is in hospital - inclusive of travel, parking, food and drink, sibling childcare and loss of earnings respectively. For many families, these unexpected outgoings cannot be absorbed, and without financial aid, they would not be able to visit their poorly loved one.
Rachel Hardwick, Funding and Partnerships Officer at Tiny Lives, said: “We cannot thank TT2 enough for its support. Donations like this one help us provide a valuable safety net for parents entering a world completely out of their control by supplying items, funds, staff specialists and support networks to help make their neonatal journeys a little easier.”
As the Regional Centre of Excellence, the neonatal unit at the RVI hospital in Newcastle looks after babies from across the North East and Cumbria. Babies are transferred to the RVI from other hospitals in the Northern Neonatal Network.
This means parents could be travelling to the RVI from homes in the borders of Cumbria and Northumberland down to as far south as Northallerton. Many families also have other children at home which increases their need for travel to and from the hospital.
TT2’s Customer Operations Manager, Shaun Simmons, added: “Tiny Lives is a charity that is close to employee’s hearts. Having a premature or poorly new-born baby can be one of the most difficult and life-changing challenges a family can experience, so when we heard we could play a part in supporting parents in this terrible position, we were delighted to do so.”
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