Charity

Special delivery as Kent birth centre receives £1,000 boost from expecting marketing mums

- 19 Sep 19

Families at a birth centre in Kent are benefiting from new equipment, thanks to a £1,000 donation from a national housebuilder – which has two colleagues currently using the facilities!

Candice McCabe, regional marketing manager, and Clare Dolton, marketing assistant at Bovis Homes, were delighted to present the cheque to Maidstone Birth Centre, located behind Maidstone Hospital on Hermitage Lane.

The pair, who are both pregnant, handed over the new funds to centre manager Janine Absalom. The donation has already been spent on birthing equipment and sofas for the facility.

Laura Kennedy, fundraising manager at the centre, said: “Our Maidstone Birth Centre received a special charity delivery thanks to Bovis Homes.

“A £1,000 donation has allowed us to purchase birthing equipment and new sofas, which are already in use and making a difference.

“It was great to see Clare and Candice from Bovis Homes, who are themselves both expecting, when they met with Janine, our lovely birth centre manager.”

The Maidstone Birth Centre, part of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, is a purpose-built unit where women can give birth and learn how to care for their babies in a relaxed, home-from-home environment.

The centre, which has two spacious birthing rooms and four postnatal bedrooms with en suite facilities, is located by Bovis Homes’ Orchard Fields development, which also caters for growing families, with three, four and five-bedroom homes for sale.

The housebuilder’s Key Workers scheme is proving popular at the location and assists those who work in certain public sector jobs, including in the NHS, police force, education, fire service and Ministry of Defence.

Candice added: “We’re delighted to donate these much-needed funds to Maidstone Birth Centre, which does such a superb job in supporting women and families in Kent.

“Clare and I appreciate the work the midwives do here so much and know first-hand how important it is to support the centre and give back.

“The centre is also just down the road from our Orchard Fields location, where we have a range of family homes and our Key Workers initiative is doing very well there – Bovis Homes wants to help those that need it to buy a brand-new home, with wonderful features.”

More than 3,000 babies have been born at the centre since it opened in 2011. To find out more about the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Charitable Fund, contact Laura at laura.kennedy8@nhs.net.