Pennine Acute Trust midwives use pedal power to buy new equipment

Diane Chadderton and community midwifes at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Diane Chadderton, an award winning midwife from The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, and a team of her midwifery colleagues are donning their cycling gear and pedalling all the way from Shaw to Blackpool to raise money – on their cycling machines.

Diane, community midwifery matron based at The Royal Oldham Hospital, and some of her midwifery colleagues, are taking part in a sponsored spin to raise funds to buy new rocking chairs for the Birth Centre at Oldham.

The sponsored spin takes place on 26 April 2015 at Elite Fitness Shaw, which is based in Shaw, Oldham. The journey, which will take them from Shaw to Blackpool in theory, will take them approximately 4.5 hours, but in reality they will never leave the relative comfort of the gym.

Around 40 and 60 people will take part in total in what is a joint effort between Trust midwives and the Melanoma UK team. The Trust midwives are fundraising to buy extra equipment for the Birth Centre and Melanoma UK are fundraising to support the Melanoma nurse appeal.

Diane who won Community Midwife of the Year at the British Journal of Midwifery Practice annual awards in 2014 and whom is leading the Trust team is no stranger to danger and she is certainly not afraid of a challenge, however the group is being mentored by an experienced spinning instructor at Elite Fitness Shaw.

Diane Chadderton, community midwifery matron at The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "I am really excited about the sponsored spin because I know that we can do it and I am really looking forward to seeing the faces of the patients and families that we treat in the Birth Centre at The Royal Oldham Hospital when they see the super new rocking chairs we have purchased for them.

"We midwives are not afraid of a challenge and we are raring to go. I just hope all the hard work and training that we have put into preparing for the sponsored spin pays off.”

To donate visit:

melanomauk.org.uk