Father of smallest baby born at Basingstoke, plays in charity event.

The New Life charity 24-hour 2023 Sportathon event takes place on Saturday 13^th and Sunday 14^th of May at David Lloyd Newbury. This exciting event is set to be the biggest and will attract over 2000 people during the weekend, made up of families, and individuals of all ages and abilities. Members and non-members will be able to sign up for challenges including cycling, swimming, tennis, a triathlon, and a great selection of high-intensity and well-being classes. For the little ones, there will be a games arcade, face painting and other fun activities run by DL Kids. The Partyathon on Saturday evening takes on a Vegas theme this year with showgirls, outstanding live music by local Adam Winslett Band, food, drink and an auction, which last year raised £6k alone.

The event has already gained support from corporate sponsors, local businesses and celebrities. Many businesses have taken up one of the sponsorship packages on offer, and others have donated auction prizes or one-off sums of money. So far there has been confirmation of attendance from celebrities, Mike Bushell, BBC Reporter, Mark Durden-Smith, BBC Sports Commentator and Neil Collins, GB Triathlete. It is hoped that a well known tennis celebrity will be able to attend the exhibition match on the Sunday before the award ceremony.

This year the intention is to exceed the £37k raised in 2022 with a new target of £40k being set. The core project focus this year is to fund four specialist ventilators for the SCBU at The Great Western Hospital, Swindon and The Royal Berk, Reading. These machines ensure that the respiratory and therapy needs of premature and very sick babies are met. A newborn’s respiratory system relies on the provision of heated and humidified gases during breathing support to maintain physiological balance, assist the body’s natural defence mechanisms and conserve energy for growth and development.

Over its 27 years, New Life has supported numerous hospitals across the South of England with its first being The Great Western in Swindon where the CEO’s twin boys Joshua and Samuel were born at 24 weeks in 1995 but sadly died a week later.

Each year the David Lloyd Club Newbury welcomes over 2000 people equating to over 500 hours of individual participation, which is approximately 20 days of sporting activity – all in 24 hours! The Sportathon is the largest charity event supported by David Lloyd and is now widely recognised and supported by Head Office.

This year the event welcomes one of its newest participants, Ryan who is taking part in the 24-hour TENNISathon. 

Ryan and his wife Sarah have a baby, Ché who was born at 29 weeks weighing just 1lb 14oz. Che is the smallest baby to have been born at Basingstoke Hospital. Ché spent the first 11 weeks of his life in hospital.

“Our son” says Ryan, “received such incredible care from amazing, dedicated doctors and nurses. He also benefited from access to life-saving equipment like ventilators, CPAP machines, temperature-controlled incubators a hot cot and a breast pump. These are all pieces of equipment that New Life has funded for hospitals in the UK.

We know how important it is for every hospital to have this equipment to provide premature and very sick babies with the best chance of survival, so we are delighted to be involved in fundraising for such an important cause.”

Neonatal Consultant Dr Sarah Bates from Great Western Hospital said, “The new equipment will provide vital support for babies who need extra help with their breathing when they are born. Babies who are born early often need extra gentle help with their breathing as they grow strong enough to breathe by themselves. The Neonatal team at GWH are hugely grateful to New Life for all their support for many years and for the help to purchase this fantastic new equipment. You're all lifesavers!”