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Sky dive creates 'Treehouse' for Neonatal Unit

28 August 2024

Some of our Neonatal team stand with Lewis, Kellie and Tru in the newly refurbished room. Several of the group of six staff wear senior nurse uniforms. Part of the end of the bed in the room is visible in the foreground, with plain walls, a window and blinds and artwork on the walls behind the group. 

A family from Lowestoft has helped refurbish a parents’ room on the Neonatal Unit at the James Paget University Hospital.

The room has been fitted with a brand new bed, en-suite shower room, furniture and relaxing décor complete with paintings to create a ‘home-from-home’ for new parents of babies born premature or unwell at term, who have received care on the Neonatal Unit.

It has been made possible thanks to a generous donation of £2000 from Lewis Woolf and his partner Kellie Brenycz, who was an inpatient on the unit when their baby, Tru, was born last year.

The couple wanted to help the unit and, after speaking with staff, agreed to raise money to fund the complete re-fit of the room, which needed refurbishment. They also came up with ideas on how the room should be designed and decorated.

Lewis raised the money for the refurbishment through a sky dive at Ellough Airfield last year – and, earlier this month, he attended the James Paget with Kellie, who cut the ribbon to formally open the room.

Lewis, Kellie and Tru carry out the official ribbon cutting - Kellie holds a pair of scissors at shoulder height cutting a purple ribbon across the white door. Above the ribbon is a purple sign which says 'The Treehouse' in purple writing with a purple circle around it. The white of the door is behind the writing and the circle and there's also a sign saying 'private'.

Now called the Treehouse, the room will be used to give parents, who have had a baby born unwell or prematurely, an opportunity to care for their baby independently, with help on hand should they need it.

Jenna Killett, of the Neonatal Unit, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the new room, which is a huge improvement on what we had before and will be a great facility to help our families before they leave for home. It has been a pleasure to work alongside Tru’s family to ensure their ideas became a reality.”

The newly refurbished room, which looks homely with a double bed in the centre, an incubator to one side, nearest the camera, and a chair in the corner. The room has soft lighting from two bedside lamps on either side of the bed, a two-drawer chest with four childrens books lined up on it, a landline telephone and a fan. There are two large windows with black-out blinds and three pieces of artwork on the wall. One of these is a beach scene, the other two, on either side of the beach painting, are outlines of mothers holding a baby.