Ickle Pickles London Incubator Ball raises over £70,000

This year’s London Incubator Ball was held on the 8th of March at the renowned Plaisterer's Hall in central London and was attended by over 150 guests with a passion for helping neonatal units provide the best levels of care. The glamorous black-tie event was hosted by co-founder and trustees of Ickle Pickles, Andrew Marsh and Ben Harvey. The charity raised over £70,000 for intensive care equipment for neonatal units at Croydon University Hospital, University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The funds raised also enabled Ickle Pickles to respond to an urgent request by the London Neonatal Transport Service for four new Transport Incubators to transport around 2,300 premature or sick babies each year.

Dr Nandiran Ratnavel, Director of the London Neonatal Transfer Service, explained that a transport Incubator is like “a little house on wheels in which we transport babies from one hospital to another. We cannot do the job without that. It's binary: it’s a yes or no. That’s why we need them.”

Ickle Pickles is proud to champion the importance of Neonatal Transport Teams in the neonatal treatment system to help vulnerable babies at such a critical time in their lives.  

At its 12th Incubator Ball, it was the charity’s privilege to also host neonatal staff from the London Transport Service and other London hospitals. Among them was Diana who provides peer support at Croydon Hospital’s neonatal unit. She said: “It’s nice to give back when others have given so much.”

A highlight of the evening was the speech by Jonathan Lawrie. He told guests the moving story of his son Oscar: “After 10 weeks in hospital and receiving the most incredible care from everyone and support of Ickle Pickles, it was finally Oscar’s turn to come home. Of course, this came with a new wave of fear. This tiny baby who had been surrounded by the best professional care was now ours to look after. But the joy I felt when I carried him out of the hospital was unforgettable. 2 years on, Oscar is like any other 2-year-old - full of joy, smiles, curiosity, and tantrums!”

Julia Croft, the Head of Nursing & Clinical Lead at Lewisham and Greenwich Hospital Trust delivered another speech sharing her experience of having two premature babies over 20 years ago and witnessing changes in neonatal care throughout her impressive career. She highlighted that “the units I manage have significant social deprivation and being local district hospitals, we do not have the funding or the fundraising teams that larger hospitals have. The help and support from Rachael, Julie and the Ickle Pickles Charity has enabled us to support babies and parents with equipment that we would not have been able to purchase.”

The evening’s fundraising activities included an exclusive silent auction kindly sponsored by John F Hunt and an Incubator Draw with the top prizes of an Afternoon tea for two at The Langham 5-Star Hotel and two tickets to Banana Cabaret Comedy & dinner at The Bedford. Many other incredible prizes for the auction and Incubator Draw were all donated by generous individuals and businesses.

The Ickle Pickles Children's Charity was delighted to entertain guests with live music by the fantastic Groove Zoo band concluding a brilliant night with dancing and drinks.

Special thanks to our headline sponsor Rothesay, Welcome Drinks sponsor Liontrust and Charlie Round-Turner Photography who recorded the event beautifully! 

Additional thanks to auctioneer Addison Gelpey, Fox Red Flowers and Tom Brown Wholesale for the beautiful flowers as well as all of Ickle Pickles’ volunteers. From welcoming guests to tidying up afterwards and everything in between, they made a huge difference to the overall success of this event.

Thank you for supporting Ickle Pickles and making a real difference to tiny babies.

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