About us

A brief history

The Friends of the Rosie evolved from the earlier organisation, the Friends of the Maternity Hospital at Mill Road. In 1973, recognising that conditions at the maternity hospital were in great need of improvement, Mrs Maura Hudson together with the help of three other young mothers and much encouragement from her consultant and the hospital authorities, formed the first fundraising committee.

With the move from Mill Road to the present site in 1983, a new committee, drawn from the nucleus of the former, founded the Friends of the Rosie Maternity Hospital. ¨The Friends¨ have raised thousands of pounds to benefit young mothers and their children in the growing Cambridge area, and will, with your help continue to do so for generations to come.

About the Friends

The Friends of the Rosie are a group of 70-80 enthusiastic and willing volunteers whose aim is to improve the services provided by Addenbrooke´s hospital by raising money to buy items that are not provided by the National Health Service.

Although the Friends believe in the importance of the best possible technical care, they also feel they should help make the Rosie a more comfortable, pleasant place for patients and visitors to remember with affection.

How the money is raised

The Tea Bar is open five days a week in the Outpatient Clinic and is run by the Friends.

The Friends also have a loyal team of knitters and sewers who make children’s clothes and toys for us to sell on a variety of stalls under the name ¨Rosie in Stitches¨.

Many generous donations are received from individuals, through the post or via the Friends’ donation boxes in the wards.

What the Friends have achieved

Visitors to the hospital cannot fail to be made aware of the generosity, hard work and dedication of the Friends. The evidence is there, in every ward and department.

Modern technology is very expensive. With the ever-increasing numbers of mothers from an ever-widening area, there is always a need for more of the essential monitoring equipment.

We are, of course, interested in the comfort of all Rosie maternity patients at Addenbrooke´s, and we supply any specially designed items of furniture that will make life more pleasant, as well as refurbishing wards and lecture rooms when necessary.

In the community we supply midwives with vital, state-of-the-art, medical equipment so that they can communicate easily with patients and the hospital.

How you can help

What the Friends need most are time and money.

We need volunteers to manage our stalls at Addenbrooke´s hospital.

We always need help in the Tea Bar for a few hours a week or on an occasional basis.

We always need drivers to transport our volunteers to events.

You could organise a sponsored event or any other fund-raiser for us.

If you would like to become a Friend and can spare a few hours a week or even a few hours a year, maybe you can make something we could sell, or simply wish to make a donation, the Friends of the Rosie would be happy to hear from you.

Thank you for your support.