New Life’s World Prematurity Ball raises £35k for special care babies at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital and Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading

A gala dinner in Newbury has raised £35,000 for special care babies.

The World Prematurity Ball was the final social event of the year organised by charity New Life and held at The Owners Club, Newbury Racecourse.

The event, which was hosted by comedian Aaron James, was attended by 180 guests including regular supporters, fundraisers and some staff from the special baby care unit at Swindon’s The Great Western Hospital and The Royal Berkshire Hospital, in Reading.

The staggering sum of £35,000 was raised by ticket sales, a live auction, a silent auction and a raffle. The auction, which included a luxury holiday, a Chelsea spa day, and sporting memorabilia, raised £26,000 alone.

Trevor Goodall, CEO and founder of New Life, gave a heart-warming speech, recounting his experience and feelings during the time spent in hospitals after his twin boys, Joshua and Samuel were born.

Mr Goodall set up the charity in 1995 after his sons died shortly after birth and has been fundraising in the West Berkshire area ever since.

“I decided that I would do something to make sure that at least one other parent did not have to go through what I went through when my boys died after being born at 24 weeks,” he said. “Bringing so many friends, family, supporters and sponsors together on an evening such as this, just enforces my determination to keep going.”

The charity is currently looking for an ambassador as well as an additional trustee as it moves closer to its £2m fundraising target.

Each year around 80,000 babies are born prematurely according to statistics published by Bliss.

This means that more than two million premature babies have been born in the UK since the charity began 26 years ago.