For the past 12 years, Bangor Rugby Club has raised over £50,000 for various charities by carol singing topless - no matter the weather – in Belfast city centre’s Cornmarket.
This year the Club is supporting the Ulster Hospital’s Neonatal Unit and Tiny Life, both of which provide invaluable care and support to premature and vulnerable babies in Northern Ireland.
So determined were the club members, they even braved the aftermath of Storm Darragh to entertain Christmas shoppers as their fundraising drive gathered pace.
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The fundraiser is especially close to one family, Susie and Jamie Clegg, whose twin boys Thomas and Finn were born on August 1 at 28 weeks, weighing just 2lb 6’ and 2lb 7’, one minute apart. Both boys spent seven weeks in the care of Neonatal staff.
Susie says she and Jamie, a member of Bangor Rugby Club, wanted to give back to the Unit for the “deep connection” the family formed while the boys were being cared for.
“While the boys being born prematurely was a traumatic time in our lives, the Neonatal staff made our family feel so comfortable and reassured. Everything was just so calm in the Unit and the boys were treated as if they were just part of the family, including their little sister Aoife who is two,” said Susie.
She added: “We were treated as their family, I felt so reassured as the staff would make the situation as normal as possible by telling me, ‘Oh you should have seen what those Thomas and Finn ones were up to last night,’ it just felt very normal for us to hear those stories and we really appreciated it.
“Aoife would draw pictures for her new baby brothers and the nurses would put them up on the wall where the incubator would sit, every element of what they did made us feel part of the team.”
Susie also credited the Neonatal staff for their care and compassion shown to the Clegg family and for building up her confidence: “Seeing Thomas and Finn in the incubator, the nurses encouraged me to lift them, to feed them, they kept saying to me, ‘They are your babies, they are just smaller. You are their mummy and they can hear your voice.’
“The Neonatal staff really became an extension of our family, we are so grateful to them and feel incredibly lucky to now have our boys thriving at home.”
With Bangor Rugby Club supporting a number of charities over the years, Jamie was supported by his fellow team mates in braving the chill and singing in unison in the four weeks running up to Christmas.
“We are incredibly appreciative of the club for supporting us by choosing these organisations for our club fundraising efforts this year. There is no way to thank everybody at the Neonatal Unit for what they have done for our family,” said Jamie.
“We will never forget how amazing they have been. This is our first Christmas together with the boys and it will be lovely to introduce them to family and friends who have yet to meet them. We will never forget the professionalism, kindness and compassion of the Neonatal team during the boys seven weeks with them.
“This is our small way of saying thank you and hopefully helping to support other families and the staff within the neonatal unit,” he added.
Neonatal Breastfeeding Lead Nurse Cathy Flinn said: “We would like to extend a huge heartfelt thanks to Jamie, Susie and all of the boys from Bangor Rugby Club for all of their amazing fundraising efforts for the Ulster Neonatal Unit.
“Their extremely generous donation to our unit will be truly appreciated by the babies, families and staff in the unit. We would like to take the opportunity to wish Jamie, Susie, Aoife, Thomas, Finn and all of the Bangor RFC a wonderful Christmas and New Year!”
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