A COUPLE whose identical twins were born at an East Lancashire hospital have raised money for a makeover of its out-of-area parents’ rooms.

Emma and Seamus Hardiman’s twins, Liam and Connell, were born at the Lancashire Women’s and Newborn Centre at Burnley General Hospital in 2017, weighing only 1lb 3oz and 1lb 6oz.

Emma was transferred from Lancaster at 23 weeks and five days gestation.

With the specialist care required not available locally, Emma and the twins spent 11 weeks at the centre. Emma and Seamus stayed in the accommodation available at the hospital at the time and, following the twins’ discharge, decided to raise funds for ELHT&Me.

Thanks to their generosity, the rooms have new roller blinds, wall-mounted TVs, a phone line to accommodate for poor mobile signal and LED lighting. Artwork has been put up to create a calming, therapeutic environment and the old carpet replaced with cushion flooring,

Emma, from Lancaster, said: “We raised funds for the family rooms through sponsorship for the annual Three Bridge Run in Lancaster, with our family and friends.

“We thought it was important to redecorate the rooms, because the environment should be modern and liveable and homely, especially for parents like us, who had to spend quite a lot of time in them.

“We want to thank all the staff at Burnley NICU, as everybody was absolutely amazing and helped our experience be as bearable as it could be. To the families using the rooms - try to stay as positive as possible, as it’s a very difficult time. Please use the rooms to have a rest, you can’t sit by your babies constantly as it’s is draining, and you need to keep yourselves well. We hope our story gives you hope!”

If you would like more information on the trust’s charity, visit www.elht.nhs.uk/charity or email fundraising@elht.nhs.uk.