Crawley gym raises £9,000 to help support premature baby charity

SPPT Gym in Crawley staged a 24 hour endurance event for charity, pushing a sledge non-stop for an entire day with more than 100 people involved.
By Ellis Peters
Published 18th Feb 2022, 13:08 BST
Updated 18th Feb 2022, 13:10 BST
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Christopher and Beth Brightmore raised £9,000 for The Early Birth Association as a way of giving back after their son Sonny was born prematurely.

One of the Coaches at the gym Chris Brightmore did the entire 24 hours challenge, two of their members Karen Ellis and Dan Colombini did 12 hours non-stop each.

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The sleigh challenge in actionThe sleigh challenge in action
The sleigh challenge in action

More than 100 other members came down at various points including the middle of the night to contribute to the effort.

Sonny was born in February 2021, six weeks early. At 8 minutes old he stopped breathing and was resuscitated. Sonny's lungs had not inflated properly and he could not get any oxygen, which meant he was put onto a machine that was breathing for him.

Sonny spent 14 days in intensive care and was moved to special care when he was more stable, with a variety of machines to help him.

The challenge required a whole team of participants to completeThe challenge required a whole team of participants to complete
The challenge required a whole team of participants to complete

The early birth association raises money to help parents and babies in SCBU. The machines that kept Sonny alive are donated and paid for by funds that the charity has raised.

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The kitchen is stocked up every day with tea, coffee and food for the parents to help themselves so that they can eat and drink and not leave the ward.

Sonny’s mum Beth Parkinson said: “It is beyond incredible what has been achieved for such an amazing charity @theearlybirthassociation.

Mum and Sonny- he is doing very well nowMum and Sonny- he is doing very well now
Mum and Sonny- he is doing very well now

“What we have built at @spptgym is like no other.. and so special. Every single person that took part is amazing. Every single person who donated is amazing.

“This charity saved my little boy’s life and without them mine and my families life would be very different. This money is the least I can do…but what amazes me even more is the amount of people who have given time and money to show love and care.

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“When that final timer stopped I cried out of pure happiness and joy. Not only because of the money but because of the members who took part and I felt so proud.

“Genuinely, thank you to everyone who donated and took part..that money will help save so many little babies' lives.”

If you would like to the GoFundMe page, you can do so using the link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sppt24?fbclid=IwAR1uopLdu1xhbMAYRXmbPLA4r7zKmMfdM9JpN_ilQ__hwMR9NZniyVHSVbA, or you can visit The Early Birth Association at: https://www.earlybirth.co.uk/

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