Cygnet Maple House, a 16-bed mental health hospital for women on Kneeton Road in East Bridgford, have been fundraising for the charity 4Louis since the start of 2025.
4Louis is a charity that supports anyone affected by miscarriage, stillbirth, and the death of a baby or child.
The organisation provides memory boxes to help families remember their loved one, and offers useful tools, equipment, and training free of charge to hospital units, hospices, and other professionals who work with grieving families.
On Friday 2 May, team Maple House’s charitable efforts continued with staff and 13 patients camping outside in the grounds of the hospital in just their sleeping bags, which raised donations to £1,152.
Hospital Manager Nicola Mullender said: “The sleep out was a great success as both staff and patients loved trying something new and daring, especially without any tents. It is such a worthy cause and it was great so many people wanted to be involved.
“Everyone enjoyed the event and we had pizza, refreshments, an outdoor cinema and a musical performance by Georgia, one of Cygnet Health Care’s Experts by Experience. Our pharmacist came along with her dog, then our Clinical Manager made us all a hot chocolate at 4am so everyone was in high spirits.
“The patients reported that they want to do it again and are already planning future camping trips. One even said that the event helped her to be excited about life, so it’s really brilliant that everyone is dedicated to the charitable cause.”
Cygnet Maple House chose 4Louis as the focus of their charitable efforts for the year and kicked off fundraising in January with an 11-mile sponsored walk around Kneeton, Gunthorpe and Caythorpe which raised more than £600.
The Cygnet Health Care hospital continued raising funds in March with some staff members visiting the 4Louis head office to help produce memory boxes for families who have experienced baby loss. Later in the month, patients at Cygnet Maple House carried out a fundraising car boot sale raising a further £230.
Nicola said: “Our aim is to try and raise as much money as possible in a year, doing lots of different events for a cause that would really benefit from our efforts.
“We have chosen 4Louis because this is a cause which can effect so many women and families as a whole and it is so important to bring awareness and try and do our bit to support families who suffer miscarriages and stillbirths.”
Team Maple House are close to their fundraising goal of £1,500 for 4Louis and have further fundraising events planned in the year including a bake sale, a car wash and two more car boot sales.
To donate, go to https://4louis.enthuse.com/pf/nicola-bicknell