Braving the downpour to touch tiny lives

Each year in the UK 50,000 babies are born prematurely. Tragically, more than 25 babies die every week because they were born too soon. Premature babies miss out on vital developmental time in their mother's womb, sometimes leaving them with organs that are not up to the task of sustaining life. The Touching Tiny Lives campaign aims to help prevent life-threatening pregnancy complications and identify the causes of premature birth in order to give babies the best chance of a healthy start in life. » Find out more.

Current total: £3500

On 28th March, the staff at dnx took part in a pram race to raise funds (and raise a few eyebrows at the same time) for the Touching Tiny Lives appeal on behalf of our nominated charity, Action Medical Research.

Everyone was divided into teams representing some of our clients - Timberland, GAAPWeb, Blacks, ntl:Telewest Business, Business Objects and WebEx - whose business activities loosely inspired the themes for our fancy dress!

The race consisted of a three and a half mile route around the Surrey Hills, taking in 3 pubs along the way. The day got off to a great start with bacon butties, courtesy of Giles, the landlord of the William IV in Little London.

Toby Tennant, Head of Fundraising at AMR, was on hand throughout to motivate the teams, even if the course wasn't exactly the Three Peaks Challenge!

Unfortunately, the only thing that didn't oblige us was the weather, so the Drummond Arms in Albury provided a welcome respite from the torrential downpour as (literally) our half way house.

The last leg of the journey finished with a photo opportunity for the Surrey Times at The Percy Arms in Chilworth, with a guest appearance from AMR's mascot Paddington Bear (anybody know where Drew disappeared to?). Sincere thanks must be extended to landlord Ted for his generous hospitality and for putting up with a somewhat soggy clientele drip-drying in front of his fireplaces.

First team past the post was Business Objects, best-dressed team was won by Timberland, inspired by explorer Ernest Shackleton's endurance mission to the Antarctic, and the award for best pram went to the GAAPweb crew and their giant briefcase on wheels. Prizes were donated by the William IV, the Percy Arms, Playtex and the Inn on the Hill in Haslemere.

It all adds up

The fundraising total so far is nudging £3,500, with further donations still trickling in from offline sponsors and collection tins, and the final sum will swell to include GiftAid tax relief for those who opted in. Despite the inclement weather, the day was a huge success - in fact, AMR were so impressed with our efforts that they intend to use the event format and the collateral we produced (posters, race cards, sponsorship forms, signposts and online pledge site) as a case study for future fundraising drives.

Our gratitude and appreciation goes to everyone who generously pledged support, making our inaugural event so worthwhile, and giving extra impetus towards solving the problems of pregnancy, childbirth and early development.

» Check out photos of the big day
» Read the feature article in the Surrey Times
» Make a pledge to Touching Tiny Lives