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Family raises £8,000 to support medical team

A mum and dad whose son underwent surgery when he was just 16 weeks old have raised £8,000 for the little-known charitable fund that works with other families in the same situation.

The Cleft Lip and Palate Fund is dedicated to supporting the Northern and Yorkshire cleft lip and palate service based at the RVI in Newcastle. The nationally regarded team at the RVI provides specialised care, treatment and support for babies, children and adults with cleft lip and palate, a condition which can affect the sufferer’s teeth, hearing and speech as well as their appearance.

Jennifer Robson and Andy McLean’s son Tom was born with a cleft lip, which was repaired by the Newcastle team.

Jennifer said: “It is quite incredible what can be done for cleft lips today and the team at the RVI was absolutely fantastic. As soon as Tom’s cleft was suspected, Dorothy Duncan, our specialist cleft nurse, was by our side. She is fabulous and will be part of Tom’s life for a long time.

“The surgeons in the cleft lip and palate team are truly amazing too; they take these tiny babies and they are so delicate and precise, and are able to fix the cleft to the point where you can barely see a trace of it.

“The support we received was second to none, which is why we decided to give something back by fundraising. We were so grateful when Andy’s employer ION Geo – Concepts Systems decided to make the fund their charity of the year too. There’s no way we could have raised so much money without the hard work and ambition of the team and we’ll never forget it.”

Cleft lips and palates are not rare conditions. Around one in 700 babies is affected but modern techniques mean that children go on to have a normal quality of life. However, caring for children born with the condition is a lengthy and expensive business. Further operations are often necessary and children’s speech, language, hearing and general development are monitored every couple of years until they are around 20 years old.

Dorothy Duncan said ‘I’ve worked with the Cleft Team for 13 years. We work so closely with the families of our cleft babies to make sure that they are fully supported from neo natal diagnosis until they leave full time education. It’s a privilege to get to know these families and especially the children as they grow and lead lives that are just as full, happy and active as any one else’s.“

Jennifer and Andy were so grateful for the service provided by the RVI, they brought together a group of friends to raise money for the Northern and Yorkshire Joint Cleft Lip and Palate Service, which supports patients and families at clinics in different hospitals around the region including Teesside and Cumbria.

The fundraisers took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge – climbing Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent– at the end of March last year. The tough challenge plus extra activities and match funding from Andy’s employer ION Geo – Concepts Systems meant they raised a grand total of £8,000 for the fund.

Nicola who coordinates the fundraising efforts at Concept Systems said “It is always great when we can fundraise for a charity close to the heart of one of the company employees. We knew how much this charity meant to Andy and his family and it was great fun taking part in the various challenges and events last year. We were especially lucky that the company chose to match all the money that we raised which gave our fundraising efforts an extra boost.”

Accepting the cheque today on behalf of the cleft lip and palate service, Mr Peter Hodgkinson, consultant plastic surgeon, said:

“We’re hugely grateful for the efforts and amazing total raised by Jennifer, Andy and their friends. Although our healthcare services are funded through the NHS, generous donations to the fund like that given to us today by Jen and Andy, mean that we can go the extra mile, enhancing the quality of care we can provide and achieving things far more quickly than would be possible without charitable funding. As this is a regional fund, dedicated to our very own cleft lip and palate service here at the RVI, any donations go directly to providing extra funding for the very latest equipment for our patients and to support research and education right here in the Northern region.

“We are hugely grateful to anyone who gives their time, their support and their money to help us provide that little bit extra for our local hospitals and services.”

ENDS

Note to Editors:

The Cleft Lip and Palate Fund is administered by the Newcastle Healthcare Charity (reg no 502473), the dedicated NHS charity for the RVI in Newcastle. Newcastle Healthcare Charity is one of two official charities supporting the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and together they administer over 700 charitable funds at both the RVI and Freeman Hospitals.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gaynor Ellis .