3 April 2009

Staff at a food production firm have boosted the coffers of the Guardian Angels fund by hundreds of pounds.

Workers at West Mill Foods, in The Quay, Selby, have handed over GBP 525 to help with the upkeep of York Hospital’s new high-dependency unit for children.

They selected the charity after one of their colleagues recently became a mum.

Gez Moncaster, of Osbaldwick, York, gave birth to her son, Joseph, last September by emergency delivery.

The 33-year-old, who works as a production supervisor, said: “I had a prolonged labour and we both ended up with a nasty infection towards the end.

“I had to have an emergency delivery and as soon as Joseph was born he had to be taken to the special care baby unit.

“He wasn’t so good for the first three days. He had a really high temperature and was quite ill.

“But the staff in the special care baby unit were absolutely fantastic. They couldn’t have been more helpful. I really couldn’t fault them.”

Staff raised the money by selling raffle tickets at the company’s Christmas party.

Gez said: “They put the notice up in August asking for suggestions for charities we would like to support, and because I was about to become a mum I chose Guardian Angels.

“If anything were to happen to my child I would want him to stay in York for his treatment rather than travelling to somewhere like Leeds or Newcastle.

“It was after I had given birth that they actually made the decision about which charity to support, and because of everything I'd been through they decided to choose Guardian Angels.

“It’s a really nice way to say thank you to the nurses and doctors at York Hospital who looked after us.”

The raffle, which was organised by Sarah Butterwick and Shelley Thorp, raised a total of GBP 1,050, which was split between Guardian Angels and the Alzheimer’s Society.



Photo and story by kind permission of The Press